1 Library of Congress. ^1 

& . & 

'p. — 'p. 

y^UNlTED STATES OF AMERICA. 

V^ - 9-167 



LIFE 



OF THE BLESSED 



JOHN GABRIEL PERBOYRE. 



Priest of the Congregation of the Mission. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1894, by 

PATRICK ALOYSIUS FINNEY, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 




Ill 



BLESSED JOHN GABRIEL PERBOYRE, C. M. 
BORN JANUARY 6th, 1802. 



LIFE 



BLESSED SERVANT OF GOD, 



THE HEROIC MARTYR 



OHN GABRIEL PERBOYRE, 



priest of tfye Congregation of tfye mission. 



TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH 

By LADY CLARE FEILDING. 



APPENDIX SPECJALLT PREPAEED FOR AMERICAN EDITION. 



PUBLISHED BY 

FINNEY BROTHERS, 
NEW ORLEANS. 

1894. 



3fa 





:< uf •:■ 



.*€*■. 




tf* 



.^Hi'J t ION, lTO., NtW ORLEANS. 



■ft 

PUBLISHERS' PREFACE. 



In placing this little book before the English- 
speaking public, at a popular price, the pub- 
lishers feel they are doing a real service to 
Catholic literature. The records of Christian 
heroism contain few examples as remarkable 
as that furnished in the closing scenes of the 
life of the Martyr, Father Perboyre. Up to 
the present, however, his life in English has 
had but a small circulation, because it sold for 
such a high price that but few purchased or 
read it. 

The Appendix will be found interesting, es- 
pecially to readers in the United States, where 
occurred all the events described. It will have, 
moveover, the effect of bringing devotion to 
the Martyr, more home to us Americans when 
we see the effects of his intercession so evi- 
dent, and among the very people of whom we 
ourselves form a part. Under the patronage of 
its Blessed Subject we place the book in the 
market, confident that, however it may fare as 



vi Publishers' Preface. 

a financial venture, it can not fail to win a 
higher success than that represented by dollars 
and cents. 

The Publishers. 

New Orleans, May t, 18Q4. 



PREFACE. 



I have been asked to put a few words by way 
of preface to this translation of a little life of a 
great servant of God. I can not but regard it 
as a privilege to be associated, in however 
slight a degree, with so useful an undertak- 
ing. 

It is of supreme importance for us children of 
the Catholic Church in this nineteenth century 
to realize that we are, even in this life and in 
this century, " fellow citizens of the Saints;" 
that we have saints amongst our fellow citizens; 
men and women subject to the same influences 
and conditions as ourselves, whom, if we have 
not known, we might have known, and whose 
brethren are still with us ; but whose lives estab- 
lish their unmistakable spiritual identity with 
those of the Apostles and Martyrs of the early 
Church. 

Father Perboyre, the subject of this memoir, 
was born in 1802, and completed his glorious 
career, by martyrdom, on the Chinese Mission, 
in 1840, in the 38th year of his age. Until he 



viii Preface. 

was thirty-two, his life presented no salient 
features to attract the attention of the external 
world. It was a life of prayer and patient use- 
fulness, with nothing extraordinary about it, 
except — and what an exception! — that, accord- 
ing to their continuous testimony, those who 
knew him best were unable to discover in him 
" the least shadow of an imperfection." Owing 
to his weak health, his superiors had long per- 
suaded themselves that whilst Father Perboyre 
was admirably fitted for the work of forming 
subjects for the Apostolic ministry, it was quite 
impossible that he should ever take an active 
part in it himself. However, in 1835, yielding, 
they could hardly explain why, to his intense 
desire, they allowed him to depart for the 
Chinese Mission- 

For some four years he endured the colossal 
labors and hardships of the Apostolate, and 
then, from the time of his arrest in September, 
1839, to h^ s execution in September, 1840, he 
underwent an almost continuous succession of 
the most hideous tortures, as cheerfully and 
simply as though they had been the most ordi- 
nary exercises of his vocation. 

How hopelessly the world misconceives the 
concentrated quiet energy of the saint's life, as 
he goes about his Master's business, "circa 



Preface. ix 

freguens minister turn, ' J or kneels in silent 
prayer at his Master's feet! "A life of dull lit- 
tleness," it exclaims, "or at best the shimmer- 
ing surface of an idle sea of false emotion signi- 
fying nothing, a spiritual far niente." But 
only let the summons of the breath of the Lord 
go forth upon its waters, and then mark the 
awakening, " Mirabiles elationes maris, mirabilis 
in altis Dominus" The cause of God articu- 
lates itself, as before in minute observance, so 
now under conditions of colossal conflict, but 
the battle has already been won, and the altered 
circumstances are not required to make the 
saint but only to proclaim him. "For I have 
lost a race I never ran," is the despairing cry of 
the despiser of little things, whereas the saint 
has many times over won his martyr's crown in 
the hour of peace. But surely this position has 
never been more hardly strained than in the 
case of our martyr, for his death was not, as 
the Church sings, "Mortis sacrce compendio" 
but a protracted agony of nigh upon twelve 
months. 

The note of sanctity is not a weapon easy to 
w T ield in the arena of controversy, but on the 
other hand its silent influence is nearly irresisti- 
ble. For ourselves, in no more efficacious way 
than in such a life as this can be conveyed the 



x Preface. 

salutary reproach, so keen and so tender* 
expressed by the poet: 

i( I see them walking in an air of glory, 
Whose light doth trample on my days; 
My days, which are at best but dull and hoary, 
Mere glimmering — and decays." 

H. I. D. Ryder. 



CONTENTS. 



I. Birth of Father Perboyre — His early years, until 
his entrance into the Congregation of the 

Mission (1802 1818) 13 

II. His Novitiate, Vows and Theological Studies 

(1818-1823) 22 

III. His first Employments at Montdidier and Saint 

Flour (1823-1832) 29 

IV. Father Perboyre is given the direction of the 

Seminary at Paris — His Vocation for China 

(1832-1835) 40 

V. The Journey from Havre to Macao, and from 

Macao to his destination at Honan (1835-1836), 51 
VI. His Missions in Honan and Hu-Peh (1836-1839), 68 
VII He is Arrested — And subjected to various exam- 
inations before being sent tu Wu-Chan-Foo.... SI 

VIII. His Sufferings at Wu-Chan-Foo 94 

IX. Death of the Servant Blessed of God (nth 

September, 1840) 112 

X. The veneration paid to Father Perboyre and the 
wonderful events which sanctioned it after his 

Death (1840-1885) 125 

Appendix : 143 



LIFE OF THE BLESSED 

JOHN GABRIEL PERBOYRE, C. M. 



CHAPTER I. 

BIRTH OF JOHN GABRIEL — HIS EARLY YEARS, UNTIL HIS EN- 
TRANCE INTO THE CONGREGATION OF THE 
MISSION. (l802-l8l8.) 

His birth, parentage and early years — School, Catechism 
and First Communion — His perseverance in well-doing — 
The Apostolate he exercised on all around him — He accom- 
panies his brother Louis to the Little Seminary at Mon- 
tauban — They wish to keep him — His vocation is decided, 
and he remains— His application to Study — His exemplary 
conduct — He goes through his course of Philosophy, and 
takes the place of one of the Professors. 

On the 6th of January, 1802, at Le Puech, a 
little village of the parish of Mongesty in the 
diocese of Cahors, was born a child who, on 
the following day, received at the baptismal font 
the name of John Gabriel, and who was destined 
by the fame of his virtues and the triumph of a 
death, gloriously undergone for the name of 
Christ, to give great honor to God and to the 
congregation of St. Vincent of Paul. 



14 Life of the Blessed 

His parents, Pierre Perboyre and Marie 
Rigal, though scantily provided with the good 
things of this world, were abundantly blessed 
with those of grace. A faith simple and strong 
as that of the first ages, a rule of life almost 
patriarchal in its simplicity, and the purity of 
which was derived from the minute practice of 
all the duties of a Christian life, such was the 
most precious portion of their inheritance. The 
blessing of God was upon them, for from their 
union sprang eight children, four sons and four 
daughters, who all proved themselves worthy of 
such truly Christian parents. Two of the 
daughters are at this moment Sisters of Charity, 
and another died just as she was about to enter 
the Community. Of the four sons, three en- 
tered the Congregation of the Mission — John 
Gabriel, our venerable martyr, Louis, who died 
at sea on his way to China, and James, who 
has survived his two missionary brothers, and is 
now in Paris. 

The early years of John Gabriel showed few 
traces of the levity generally so characteristic of 
children. His language and demeanor dis- 
played a gravity far beyond his age, and the 
piety he showed, remarkable as it was in a child 
of only five years old, inspired his own family 
with a kind of veneration. He had a special at- 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 15 

traction for all sacred things, and the divine 
love, of which his young heart was full, evinced 
itself in the way in which he pronounced the 
holy names of Jesus and Mary, and in his de- 
vout bearing, both in Church and while saying 
his prayers at home. 

Endued with a rare modesty, he had an in- 
stinctive horror of the least thing which could 
wound that delicate virtue; and to such an 
extent was this carried that he never willingly 
lent himself to any familiarity or outward show 
of human affection. At the same time, his 
pure heart was full of an exquisite sensibility, 
which made him keenly alive to all the suffer- 
ings of his neighbors. He had a great love for 
the poor, and delighted in relieving them, 
although he never permitted himself this pleas- 
ure without first obtaining the consent of his 
parents, so entirely was he " subject to them," 
after the manner of the Child Jesus. This 
docility, not onty to their orders, but even to 
their wishes, was never known to fail him, and 
never once had they cause to reproach him with 
the slightest disobedience. At an early age he 
showed himself deserving of the utmost confi- 
dence, and when only six years old was 
entrusted with the care of a little flock of sheep, 
a charge which he fulfilled to the satisfaction of 



16 Life of the Blessed 

every one, never showing the smallest sign of 
impatience, notwithstanding the frequent inclem- 
ency of the weather and the difficulty he had in 
managing the animals. 

At eight years of age he was sent to school, 
where his love of study soon attracted the atten- 
tion of his master, and together with his good- 
ness won for him the esteem and respect of his 
companions. He was never known to become 
familiar with any of them, and though on good 
terms with all, he was best pleased to be with 
those who showed the greatest inclination for 
piety. 

At the Catechism classes his intelligence and 
industry were no less remarkable, and the 
priest, struck by this combination of knowledge 
and piety in so young a child, did not hesitate 
to break through the ancient custom of the 
parish, and admitted him when only eleven 
years old to make his first Communion. No 
one dreamed of blaming this exception; and 
there was general rejoicing when the little saint , 
as he was commonly called, was seen to 
approach the holy table and receive the Bread 
of Angels. 

The fervor which he showed on this occasion 
was no passing feeling, and from that day forth, 
John Gabriel, became the model of the parish. 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 17 

Every spare moment was devoted to spiritual 
reading, generally the " Lives of the Saints," 
and in particular the life of " St. Vincent of 
Paul," for whom he had a special affection; 
and on Sundays and feast days he spent the 
whole day in the Church, which, indeed, he 
seemed to make his home. 

The divine charity which filled his own heart, 
made its sweet and salutary influence felt by all 
about him. Animated by an ardent, though 
wise and enlightened zeal, he exercised a reg- 
ular apostolate not only in his own family and 
among his brothers and sisters, whom he in- 
structed and encouraged, but even among the 
laborers with whom he worked in the fields, and 
whose language, under his influence, became 
less rude and coarse. 

Such a rare combination of qualities could 
not but presage a happy future, and people 
asked themselves, as formerly in the case of 
St. John the Baptist: " What a one, think ye, 
shall this child be?" J2hiis -pittas -piier iste 
erit? (Luke i. 66.) We shall see what answer 
Divine Providence gave to this question. 

One of John Gabriel's younger brothers was 
also gifted with an excellent disposition. His 
gentle piety, and oft-repeated desire of becom- 
ing a priest caused his parents to send him to 



i8 Life of the Blessed 

the Little Seminary at Montauban, under the 
care of his uncle, Rev. James Perboyre, who 
was then Superior. But as he was of a timid 
nature, and of rather delicate health, John Ga- 
briel asked permission to accompany him, and 
to stay with him for the first two months, in order 
to accustom him to his new life. So both to- 
gether the two brothers left home for the first 
time. It was, doubtless, a great sorrow to a 
family whose members were so united, but the 
thought of John Gabriel's speedy return helped 
to soothe the bitterness of the parting. 

This hope, however, was not destined to 
be realized, for God had other designs upon 
the boy which were soon to be made mani- 
fest. 

At first John Gabriel thought only of spend- 
ing the time which he had to pass with his 
brother, in picking up some useful knowledge, 
studying French grammar, arithmetic and a 
little geometry. But very soon his masters, 
struck by his piety, amiable qualities, and apti- 
tude for study, and perceiving in him unequiv- 
ocal signs of a vocation, urged the Superior to 
keep the boy, and to let him begin Latin. Rev. 
James Perboyre did not at first give his con- 
sent, although he secretly wished the same thing 
himself, but replied simply: "We must leave 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 19 

his poor parents somebody to help them to till 
their vines." 

However, when the father came to fetch his 
son home, the masters all pressed him to allow 
the boy to continue his studies, representing to 
him what a pity it would be to condemn to a 
laborer's life, a youth, who seemed to have a 
career so full of promise before him. Before 
consenting, the father sounded John Gabriel on 
the subject, and tried to find out what his own 
wishes were. But he, understanding all the 
importance of the step he was about to take, 
asked for time to examine the question before 
God, and on June 16, 181 7, wrote to his father 
as follows : 

"My Dear Father — As soon as you had 
gone, I thought over your proposal that I should 
study Latin, and I consulted God as to what 
state of life I ought to embrace so as most 
surely to gain Heaven. After much prayer, I 
concluded that our Lord wished me to enter the 
ecclesiastical state, and, consequently, I have 
begun to learn Latin. I know how much you 
stand in need of the little help I am able to give 
you, and my only regret is not to be able to 
assist you in your heavy labors; but still, if our 
good God calls me to the priesthood, there 
i& no other road by which I can possibly attain 
to a blessed eternity." 



20 Life of the Blessed 

This letter, full of such truly Christian feel- 
ing, put an end to his father's hesitation, and he 
at once declared that he was ready not only to 
refrain from putting any obstacle in the way of 
his son's vocation, but even to make all the 
necessary sacrifices to further it. 

Happy in being able thus to respond to the 
call of God, John Gabriel applied himself with 
ardor to his new studies, and in spite of his 
comparatively advanced age (he was past fif- 
teen) he soon made rapid progress. Six months 
after beginning Latin he was put into the fifth 
class; at Easter he passed into the fourth, and 
as he still held the first place they promoted 
him to the second, and thence into the rhetoric 
class, where he was equally successful. 

He was no less remarkable for his irreproach- 
able conduct, his exemplary regularity, and his 
true and solid piety. Humility, charity, gentle- 
ness, modesty, zeal and mortification were some 
of his chief characteristics. He soon became 
the object of a sort of veneration among his fel- 
low students, besides possessing the esteem and 
affection of his masters. Far from presuming 
upon these advantages, he sincerely regarded 
himself as the lowest of all, seeking only to 
efface himself, and to put in practice that 
maxim of the Imitation so dear to humble souls : 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 21 

44 Love to be unknown, and to be esteemed as 
nothing, ama nesciri et pro nihilo ?'eftutart." 

The study of philosophy, to which he applied 
himself on finishing his rhetoric, revealed in him 
a clear judgment combined with great facility 
of conception, and a mind naturally inclined to 
metaphysics. Such talents, together with so 
much virtue, induced his uncle to appoint him 
to replace one of the professors who had just 
left the house, being fully persuaded that the 
young philosopher would be found equal to the 
task. He was not disappointed, and the new 
master soon gained the esteem and affection of 
his pupils to such a degree that thirty years 
afterwards many of them could not speak of 
him without tears of emotion. 

But Divine Providence was gradually prepar- 
ing him for a still more perfect life, and before 
long the Congregation of the Mission was to 
open its doors to receive him. 



22 Life of the Blessed 



CHAPTER II. 

HIS NOVITIATE, VOWS AND THEOLOGICAL STUDIES. 

(1818-1823.) 

First signs of his Vocation to the Congregation of the 
Mission — He consults God in Prayer — He is admitted to the 
Congregation — His Virtues during the Novitiate—His Holy 
Vows — His departure for Paris; admirable act of detach- 
ment — Regret felt on his leaving Montauban— The good 
impression he makes at the Mother-House — His application 
to his Theological Studies — His progress in perfection. 

We have already remarked upon the love for 
the poor which John Gabriel showed in his 
childhood, and his delight in helping them. 
This feeling increased during his stay at the 
Little Seminary, and he was often found de- 
priving himself of his breakfast or luncheon to 
give it to the beggars who stood at the door. 

We have also seen how, among the "Lives of 
the Saints," which formed his habitual reading, 
his preference was always for the life of St. 
Vincent of Paul, and beneath the veil. of humil- 
ity under which he strove to hide himself, it was 
easy to guess the ardent zeal with which his 
heart burned for the salvation of souls, espec- 
ially of those who were sitting in darkness, and 
in the shadow of death. Once towards the end 



John Gabriel Peboyre. 23 

of his rhetoric, in an essay which he read at a 
distribution of prizes, the following sentence 
occurred, showing clearly enough the secret 
longing of his heart: "Ah! how beautiful is the 
cross planted in the midst of a heathen land and 
watered with the blood of the Apostles of jjesus 
Christ!" 

Nobody was astonished, therefore, when he 
made known his wish to enter the Congrega- 
tion of the Mission, founded by St. Vincent of 
Paul, for the special care of the poor, and 
among whose members, many devote them- 
selves to the conversion of heathen countries. 

Already, in 1817, after hearing a mission ser- 
mon, he had said: "I mean to be a mission- 
ary!" but little attention was paid to his declar- 
ation, which was thought to^be only the passing 
emotion of a young heart, impressed by the 
ardent and impassioned words of the preacher. 
The event showed it to be the expression of a 
deep and lasting attraction of which God him- 
self was the Author. 

Feeling himself inwardly more and more 
urged to join the Congregation of the Mission, 
and to go and preach the Faith to the heathens 
in China, John Gabriel wished first of all to 
consult God in prayer. With this intention he 
made a novena in honor of St. Francis Xavier, 



24 Life of the Blessed 

the great apostle of the Indies, which confirmed 
him in his design. He then opened his heart to 
his uncle, Rev. James Perboyre, who at first 
attached but little importance to his request; 
but, finally, being persuaded that God was in 
truth calling him into the family of St. Vincent, 
he applied to the superiors, and obtained for 
John Gabriel admission to the congregation. 

It was in the month of December, 1818, that 
John Gabriel donned the poor but holy garb of 
a missionary. The Congregation of the Mission, 
so cruelly tried during the stormy period of the 
French Revolution, had hitherto been unable 
regularly to reconstitute its Mother-House, or to 
re-establish its novitiate. It was necessary, 
therefore, to allow John Gabriel to spend the 
two years which precede the taking of the vows, 
at Montauban with his uncle, in order to give 
himself up as much as possible to the exercises 
customary in the congregation during that period 
of probation. 

Alone in the novitiate save for one other com- 
panion, and having at one and the same time to 
finish his own philosophical studies, and per- 
form the duties of a professor in the house, the 
conditions of our young novice seemed little 
favorable for the formation of a religious life. 
But God who had placed His servant in this 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 25 

difficult position, Himself undertook to form 
him, and the workings of grace produced such 
happy results in this docile spirit, that John 
Gabriel might serve as a model for the most 
pious and fervent of novices. 

The virtues he then practised were on a par 
with those of St. John Berchmans, St. Aloysius, 
St. Stanislas Kostka, and those other saints 
whom the Church honors and holds up as 
models to young people. The narrow limits of 
this short life will not permit us to go into 
details however edifying. We must confine 
ourselves to. quoting the testimony of his fellow- 
novice, a man of keen and observant character, 
quick to recognize a fault or an absurdity. 
11 The whole time I w r as with him," he writes, 
" he was the constant object of my admiration 
and astonishment. Although I watched him 
carefully, even playing the spy occasionally, I 
never could succeed in finding the least fault 
in him. I was in a manner annoyed to find him 
so perfect. I might even say that I went so far as 
to put his virtue to the proof, but he was unas- 
sailable ; and I do not believe it possible for a 
novice to carry perfection further than he did." 

And thus when the moment came for taking 
his vows, he was able to cry out with the Psalm- 
ist, Par alum cor meum^ Deus, faratum cor 



26 Life of the Blessed 

meum: " My heart is ready, O Lord, my heart 
is ready." (Ps. cvii. 2.) Indeed, his heart 
was already so perfectly detached both from 
creatures and from himself, that he was ready 
for that total self-immolation, of which the 
vows of poverty, chastity and obedience are the 
consummation ; and he was burning to consecrate 
his whole life to the service of the poor by that 
fourth vow which St. Vincent has imposed 
upon his children. 

It was on the 28th of December, 1820, that 
he had the happiness of offering this sacrifice 
to God, and of contracting with Jesus Christ 
that divine alliance which he was, in after days, 
to seal with his own blood, like the Holy Inno- 
cents whose feast is kept on that same day. 
And henceforth this day, fraught with such 
happy memories, took its place among his most 
cherished anniversaries. 

Thus definitely enrolled in the Congregation 
of the Mission, Mr. Perboyre was called to Paris, 
there to commence his theological studies, and 
his departure was signalized by an act of de- 
tachment, of which a young man of nineteen 
would seldom be capable. His uncle, knowing 
his affection for his parents, proposed that he 
should go and pay them a visit before starting; 
an arrangement which could easily have been 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 27 

carried out, as he had actually to pass Cahors 
which was only three or four hours distant from 
Le Puech, on his way to Paris. But this worthy 
child of St. Vincent replied: "Our Blessed 
Father never went but once to visit his parents, 
and that he repented of having done afterward; 
if you will allow me, I should like to make this 
sacrifice to God." They had not the courage 
to refuse the permission. But his parents, who 
had not seen him for so long, and who were far 
from sharing this heroic generosity, came to 
Cahors to see and embrace him once more, and 
in order to induce him to accompany them, 
pointed out the road to Le Puech. " It is not 
the road to Heaven," he said; " to reach Heav- 
en we must make sacrifices," and tearing him- 
self from their arms he went his way. 

The void he left at Montauban was immense; 
all alike, masters and pupils, regretted him as a 
brother, a father and a friend, or rather they 
wept for him as one would weep at the depart- 
ure of a saint or an angel, whose very sight was 
the edification of all, and whose presence seemed 
to draw down signal blessings upon the house. 

The treasure which Montauban had lost was 
quickly appreciated at Paris, and his superiors 
were charmed with the ardor and success with 
which he pursued his ecclesiastical studies. 



28 Life of the Blessed 

The angelic doctor St, Thomas Aquinas was 
not only his master, he was also his model. 
Following his example, he had a horror of vain 
glory, while his only ambition was to please 
God, to procure His greater glory, and in due 
time to be of use to his neighbor. Like St. 
Thomas also he knew how to combine study 
with prayer, and sought at the foot of his cru- 
cifix that divine light and heavenly unction 
which are not to be found in books. He never 
forgot that an ill-regulated and too exclusive 
application to study dissipates the mind, dries 
up the heart and weakens piety. 

A pious missionary who was among the 
number of his fellow-students says of him: 
"Throughout all this period I found him a per- 
fect model of every virtue, inciting us all to 
become better. I was never able to discover 
the least fault in him, and although he some- 
times accused himself of failing in gentleness, I 
never could see wherein the failure lay. People 
may say all the good they like of him, but I do 
not think it is possible to exaggerate it. There 
was nothing extraordinary about him, but there 
seemed to be nothing defective, and the more 
one considered and studied him, the more aston- 
ished one was to find him perfect everywhere, 
and in everything." 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 29 



CHAPTER III. 

HIS FIRST EMPLOYMENTS AT MONTDIDIER AND SAINT 
FLOUR. 

(1823-1832.) 

His first year at Montdidier — He is appointed Professor 
of Philosophy — His love for the poor — He is recalled to 
Paris, to be ordained Priest — He goes to teach theology at 
a great seminary of Saint Flour — His teaching — The way he 
formed his pupils — The admiration with which he inspired 
his brethren— He is named Superior of the ecclesiastical 
boarding school of Saint Flour — The difficulties he encoun- 
ters — His aptitude for the education of the young — He is 
recalled to Paris — Regrets inspired by his departure from 
Saint Flour — Death of his brother Louis — He goes to visit 
his family. 

Having finished his course of theology in 
1823, Mr. Perboyre, then scarcely twenty-one 
years of age, was ordained sub-deacon and sent 
to the College of Montdidier where he remained 
two years. The first year he was set to teach a 
class of the youngest scholars, whose hearts he 
soon gained by his goodness, gentleness, and 
simple and winning piety. He availed himself 
of these good dispositions to found a little con- 
fraternity among them, which he placed under 
the invocation of the Holy Angels, and which 
produced the most happy results. 



3o Life of the Blessed 

The following year a very different charge 
was committed to him; he was intrusted with 
the class of philosophy, which he succeeded in 
making at once useful and interesting. 

The care with which he prepared his classes 
and applied himself to his other professional 
duties did not prevent him from finding time to 
visit the poor of the town, and the prisoners. 
His love for these suffering members of Jesus 
Christ made him ingenious in procuring them 
relief, which it was his delight to distribute to 
them in person. He often got one or other of 
his pupils to accompany him on these charitable 
expeditions, liking to initiate them into the prac- 
tice of works of mercy; and they on their side 
disputed among themselves as to who should 
have the happiness of serving an apprenticeship 
to Christian charity under such a master. 

Mr. Perboyre had now reached his twenty- 
fourth year, and his superiors deemed it advisa- 
ble to recall him to Paris, to be ordained priest. 
This announcement filled him both with joy and 
fear. On the one hand he rejoiced at the pros- 
pect of ascending each day to the altar, and 
nourishing himself with the Bread of Angels ; 
while on the other, conscious of all the holiness 
required for such an august ministry, he feared 
to present himself for ordination with insuffi- 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 31 

cient dispositions. These sentiments of humility 
only served to prepare him more fully for the 
grace of the priesthood, which he received on 
the 23d of September, 1825, in the Chapel of 
the Mother-House of the Sisters of Charity. It 
is a coincidence worthy of remark that on the 
very same day in the year 1600, St. Vincent of 
Paul had also been ordained priest at Chateau- 
l'Eveque by the Bishop of Perigueux. 

None but God and His Holy Angels can ever 
know how perfect were the interior dispositions 
of the young candidate for ordination, nor with 
what fervor the newly ordained priest cele- 
brated his first Mass on the morrow. But one 
may safely affirm that from that moment he ap- 
plied himself more assiduously than ever to the 
study of perfection, putting off more and more 
the old man, so as to clothe himself afresh with 
the new, thus realizing in his own person that 
ideal of a priest, sacerdos alter Christus. 

Henceforth Father Perboyre was called to in- 
fuse into others that admirable sacerdotal spirit 
which filled his own heart. Appointed director 
and professor of dogmatic theology at the Great 
Seminary of Saint Flour, he proved himself, 
notwithstanding his youth, to be more than 
equal to the task. 

His teaching was the more appreciated and 



32 Life of the Blessed 

the more fruitful in that he preached principally 
by example. His exalted intelligence loved to 
soar to the heights of Catholic dogma, expound- 
ing it with wonderful clearness and a singular 
precision. He knew even how to shed a charm 
and an interest over the most abstract subjects, 
divesting them of all that was dry and repellent 
to the ears of his listeners, but above all he 
made his course of study an eminently practi- 
cal one, seeking in every subject fresh susten- 
ance for his pupils' piety. 

Thus, while continuing their theological 
studies, they were enabled to make rapid 
progress in the science of the saints. But it 
was especially those, and they were not few, 
who had chosen him as the guide of their con- 
science, whom he made the special object of 
his sacerdotal zeal. The affectionate and en- 
tirely supernatural attachment he felt for them, 
the gentle firmness with which he guided them 
in the paths of virtue, in a word, his wise, en- 
lightened and fatherly direction, made them 
love and venerate him like an angel from 
heaven. There was in fact something truly 
angelic about this great servant of God, a sort 
of halo of sanctity, which became even more 
apparent during his celebration of the Sacred 
Mysteries, so that people on seeing him at the 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 33 

altar could not forbear exclaiming, as formerly 
in the case of St. Vincent of Paul, "Ah! there 
is a priest who does say his Mass well!" or 
again : " Look at Father Perboyre, he is a saint 
and a privileged saint; he surely can never 
have lost his baptismal innocence!" 

There was at that time at St. Flour an eccle- 
siastical school, founded a few years previous- 
ly and afterwards to become the present Little 
Seminary, but which up to that moment had 
only maintained itself with the utmost difficulty. 
Its development had been hindered by obstacles 
and difficulties of all kinds, and its very exist- 
ence seemed to be seriously threatened. After 
many fruitless attempts to remedy this disas- 
trous state of things, attention was drawn to the 
young professor of theology at St. Flour, and 
it was resolved, despite his youth, to place him 
at the head of the establishment. 

It was towards the close of the year 1827 that 
Father Perboyre entered upon his new charge, 
one calculated to discourage any man less accus- 
tomed to count upon the help of God. The 
house was destitute of all resources; the schol- 
ars little accustomed to discipline; while, out- 
side there were enmities and prejudices, and 
even among the best inclined persons appre- 
hensions which the youthfulness of the new 



34 Life of the Blessed 

Superior seemed only to justify. But knowing, 
as St. Vincent says, that "Divine Providence 
never abandons us in any work which we un- 
dertake at Its bidding," Father Perboyre was 
not to be daunted even in the face of such diffi- 
culties. They served, in fact, only to augment 
his confidence, for the greater the disproportion 
between the undertaking that lay before him 
and the means at his disposal, the more sure he 
felt of His aid who loves to make use of the 
feeblest instruments for the accomplishment of 
His mightiest works. 

There was, however, nothing of presumption 
in this confidence, and whilst he counted upon 
God for success, Father Perboyre left nothing 
undone on his own part to insure it. Without 
giving offence to any one, his watchfulness 
soon made him acquainted with all that went 
on in the house. He was always ready to be- 
stow his much prized approbation on whatever 
he found of good; the evil he combated with a 
wisdom and prudence, a gentleness and firm- 
ness which, irresistible as it was, never wound- 
ed any one. 

The fatherly affection which he showed to 
all, both masters and pupils, soon drew all 
hearts to him, and facilitated the exercise of 
his authority. Very quietly he set about the 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 35 

reformation oi abuses, little by little transform- 
ing the entire establishment, so that at the end 
of a short time it was perfectly unrecognizable. 
All opposition both from within and without 
was disarmed by his sweetness and humility. 
The parents forgot the youth of the superior 
and learned to see in him only a holy priest and 
a master deserving of all their confidence, while 
the undisciplined pupils he had found on his 
arrival soon became tractable and docile ; their 
number increased rapidly, and though they 
were only thirty when he came, they numbered 
more than a hundred the following year. The 
temporal administration of the house, thanks to 
his wise and intelligent guidance, was soon 
placed on a better footing, and to crown all, his 
fellow workers formed themselves upon his 
model in that most difficult of arts, the educa- 
tion of the young. Father Perboyre was in fact 
specially fitted for the education of young peo- 
ple. In his treatment of them individually he 
knew how to take into account differences of 
age, character and temperament. He could 
tell which was the most sensitive chord in every 
heart, and knew how to touch it in order to ob- 
tain the happiest results. It needed but a word, 
a gesture or a look from him to obtain what he 
desired— the subjection of a pride that had hither- 



36 Life of the Blessed 

to shown itself indomitable, or the awakening of 
salutary remorse in the most guilty conscience. 
To give but one example: There was a boy 
who had become so intractable that his masters, 
having fairly tried every means to bring him to 
better dispositions, finally begged that he might 
be expelled. Before yielding to their request 
Father Perboyre resolved to make a last attempt 
himself. He succeeded so well that in a short 
time that boy became the model of the house. 

True it is that in order to arrive at such re- 
sults he employed means known only to the 
saints. One day, having sent for a culprit to 
his room, after vainly exhausting the language 
both of gentleness and of just severity, he 
turned suddenly to his crucifix and pointing to 
it, said in a tone of indescribable sadness: 
" How many sorrowful moments, my dear boy, 
you have made me spend at the feet of Jesus 
crucified!" The culprit could not resist such 
an appeal; he begged pardon, and his conduct 
changed from that hour. At other times he 
would fall upon his knees at the foot of his 
crucifix and there make reparation in the name 
of the culprit he wanted to win over, until shar- 
ing the sentiments he heard uttered with such 
profound conviction, he too went away with 
tears in his eyes and repentance in his heart. 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 37 

But the first and the last of all his means, the 
one that accompanied every other, was prayer. 
Giving an account one day, in all simplicity, of 
his method of prayer he said: "I begin by 
rendering homage to God, then I reflect upon 
my own needs, on the needs of the masters, the 
boys, and all those who make up the household, 
and then I ask our Lord to grant to each one 
what he is most in want of." Such prayers as 
these could hardly fail to draw down abundant 
graces upon the establishment, and as long as 
Father Perboyre remained, the blessing of God 
rested on the place. 

But for those who had the happiness of living 
in his loved and saintly company this time was 
far too short. There was universal mourning 
at Saint Flour when, at the end of five years, 
he was recalled by his superiors to Paris. The 
boys and their parents, all wept for him as for a 
father, a brother, and a friend, and his praise 
was in every mouth. The superior of the 
Great Seminary, a man well qualified to discern 
true merit, used to say of him: "Father Per- 
boyre is the most perfect man I know," and the 
Bishop of Saint Flour, who frequently allowed 
himself to be guided by his councils, was with 
difficulty induced to consent to his departure. 
As for himself, having no other desire than to 



38 Life of the Blessed 

conform to the will of God, the most complete 
expression of which was to be found for him 
in the will of his superiors, he received the 
news of his removal with the most perfect equa- 
nimity. He was, besides, so profoundly con- 
vinced that anybody would be better fitted than 
himself to fill this onerous post, that he had 
even written to his superiors representing that 
the task was beyond his strength, and urging 
the weak state of his health. This latter con- 
sideration was certainly the only one that gave 
any force to the humble instances of the young 
superior. 

It was just then vacation time, in the year 
1832, and Father Perboyre thought it his duty to 
go and spend a few days with his family, to 
console his parents in a great affliction which 
had come upon them. His young brother Louis 
whom he was so fond of, and who like him 
had entered the Congregation of the Mission, 
had just died on his way to China, where he 
had hoped to preach the Gospel to the heathen. 
He succeeded so effectually in concealing the 
greatness of his own sorrow from the members 
of his family, that they came to look upon the 
event as a great favor, the young apostle having, 
as he told them, had the happiness of dying the 
death of the Saints, so precious in the eyes of 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 39 

the Lord. On his return from this journey, 
Father Perboyre was recalled to the Mother- 
House; as prompt as he was simple in obedi- 
ence he set out for Paris immediately. 



4o Life of the Blessed 



CHAPTER IV. 

FATHER PERBOYRE IS GIVEN THE DIRECTION OF THE SEMI- 
NARY AT PARIS — HIS VOCATION FOR CHINA. 

(1832-1835.) 

He is given the direction of the novices — The success with 
which he acquitted himself of this duty— Father Gir- 
ard's testimony — He is ravished in ecstasy — His ardent wish 
to go to China — His health prevents its realization — He re- 
doubles his prayers, and finally obtains his wish — His fare- 
well to the novices, and to his other brethren. 

His aptitude for the formation of youth, as 
well as his singular learning and virtue, com- 
bined to suggest to his superiors the idea of em- 
ploying Father Perboyrfc in the direction of no- 
vices at the Mother-House. 

As soon as he arrived in Paris he was ordered 
to assist the Director of the Seminary, and even 
to replace him on occasions when his age and 
infirmities prevented his discharging his duties 
himself. 

But the humble sub-director saw in this im- 
portant and honorable position only a fresh mo- 
tive for lowering himself still further in his own 
eyes, and imploring more fervently the help of 
Almighty God. The force of his example 
worked even more effectually than his earnest 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 41 

and persuasive words, transforming the Semi- 
nary, as it were, into an "upper chamber," 
where fervor and regularity reigned supreme, 
and where flourished all those virtues of which 
Apostles are made. 

This will seem less astonishing if taken in 
conjunction with the statement made by the 
holy Rev. Joseph Girard, one of his former nov- 
ices, known in later years as the patriarch of the 
Algerian clergy, and who, loved and venerated 
by all, died a saintly death on the 19th April, 
1879. ft ma y be described as the homage 
rendered by one saint to another. "For many 
years I had longed to see a saint before my 
death. After reading the Lives of the Saints I 
fancied that their biographers were apologists 
who took pains to hide their defects in order to 
make them appear free from all imperfection or 
weakness, and though I had met many a deserv- 
edly esteemed man, in each one there was 
something lacking to make him like the canon- 
ized Saints of the church. At last, in the month 
of October, 1834, ■"■ ma de the acquaintance of 
Father Perboyre, and before long I was able to 
give thanks to God that I had really seen a Saint 
before my death. I used to say to my friends in 
Paris who did not know him, 'Now at last I 
have seen a Saint, and I know what a live Saint 



42 Life of the Blessed 

is.' In truth Father Perboyre led the life of a 
Saint at the Seminary. He made a singular 
impression on me the first time I saw him. He 
was standing beside Father Etienne, but his cas- 
sock, though clean, was so poor, and his whole 
appearance so humble and modest that I took 
him for the lowest in the house. When Father 
Perboyre had left the room, I asked Father 
Etienne who that priest was, and he told me that 
he was the director of the novices. I had some 
difficulty in believing it, for there was nothing im- 
posing about his personality; but I then set my- 
self to study a man who, though apparently so 
humble, filled such an important office, and I 
soon saw that all his beauty was from within." 

His habit was always the shabbiest in the 
Seminary, and no seminarist seeing him so for- 
getful of himself ever ventured to complain of 
his own. 

It was his custom to expound the Epistles of 
St. Paul to us every Monday; what he said was 
always full of deep meaning, it was in fact St. 
Paul .upon Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was, as 
a rule, the object of his discourses, but so deep 
and varied were his thoughts that he generally 
confined himself to the exposition of a single 
verse. 

He was in all things a man of God, and one 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 43 

who in no wise excited attention by his outward 
demeanor. He was naturally given to conceal- 
ing himself, and this tendency was increased by 
the deep sense he entertained of his own inca- 
pacity. If a delicate question were put to him, 
he would delay before answering ; his answers 
were never ready made to order, but he elabo- 
rated them with thought and prayer. In this 
way he seldom made a mistake, and his words 
were always full of wisdom. Gentle, firm and 
constant, he went straight to his point, though 
he did it very quietly. His patience was invin- 
cible. He talked little, rarely of others, and 
then always to their advantage, but he often 
spoke of God, and never of himself. 

The most remarkable thing about Father Per- 
boyre was that he had no* faults. He stayed in 
many different houses, lived with many differ- 
ent brethren, but all who have ever known him 
might be questioned, and they would answer 
with one accord, " that he was absolutely de- 
void of any imperfection." 

Another of his novices, Rev. A., afterward 
Superior of the Mission of St. A — , was one 
day witness of one of those exceptional favors 
with which God is sometimes pleased to honor 
his Saints. 

He was serving Father Perboyre' s Mass, when 



44 Life of the Blessed 

at the moment of consecration he beheld him 
lifted up from the ground and ravished in ecstacy. 
When the Holy Sacrifice was over, the servant 
of God, alarmed in his humility, feared lest the 
young server should reveal what he had just 
witnessed, and on returning to the sacristy made 
him promise to preserve it as an inviolable 
secret. "I forbid you," he said, "ever to reveal 
to anyone, as long as I live, what you have just 
seen." 

The fortunate witness remained faithful to his 
promise as long as Father Perboyre lived: Et- 
enim sacramentum regis abscondere bonitm est, 
but after his death it was due to the glory of God 
to reveal His marvelous operations : opera autem 
Dei revelare et confiteri honor ijicum est (Tobias 
xii., 7); and we thus possess a fresh proof of 
the already eminent holiness of the humble 
director of the Seminary. 

A master so accomplished himself was natu- 
rally well fitted to form apostolic men, and God 
granted him the happiness of seeing a great 
number of those whom he had trained going 
forth to the ends of the world to preach the good 
tidings, and to bring back erring souls to the 
way of salvation. But such a result as this, 
which he was far from attributing to his own 
merits, was not enough to satisfy his holy and 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 45 

generous ambition. He wished to pay a tribute 
yet more immediate and more personal to those 
distant missions; and to water those heathen 
lands not only with the sweat of his brow, but 
even with his blood. This desire had been the 
mainspring of his vocation for the priesthood, 
and had finally determined his entrance into the 
Congregation of the Mission. Above all, the 
thought of martyrdom inflamed his generous 
heart, and the hope of finding it in China made 
him long eagerly to be sent thither. He loved 
to talk about Ven. Father Clet, another son of St. 
Vincent, who had died for the faith in those lands 
some fifteen years before, on the 17th Feb- 
ruary, 1820. "What a beautiful death that was 
of Father Clet," he said to one of his novices; 
* ' pray for me that my end may be like his." 
And another day, having called all the seminar- 
ists together in the conference room, he showed 
them a cord and a blood-stained habit, saying 
eagerly: "See, here is the habit belonging to a 
martyr — here is Father Clet's habit. Here is the 
cord with which he was strangled. How happy 
we should be if we might one day share the 
same fate." Then, as he left the assembly he 
called one of his novices aside and said to 
him, "Do pray for me that my health may 
get stronger, so that I may be able to go to 



46 Life of the Blessed 

China and preach Jesus Christ and die for 
him." 

His health was, in fact, the great obstacle to 
the realization of his desires. For many years 
past it had been severely shaken, and every- 
thing seemed to indicate that even were he to 
start for China, he would be unable to support 
the fatigues of the journey, and like his brother 
Louis, would die before reaching his destina- 
tion. For this reason his superiors had hither- 
to refused to yield to his petition. That Father 
Perboyre was deeply grieved by this refusal, 
there is little doubt; but far from blaming any 
one, he attributed it solely to his own sins, and 
still cherished a hope that some day his prayer 
might be granted. 

Towards the beginning of the year 1835 he 
appeared to the eyes of his novices entirely ab- 
sorbed by some grave preoccupation; his brow, 
ordinarily so serene, was overshadowed by a 
cloud; his prayers became longer and more 
frequent. The fact was, he had just heard of 
the approaching departure for China of some 
fresh missionaries, and he himself was not to 
be of their number. He, who for more than 
six years, while saying Mass, had entreated 
every morning at the moment of consecration, 
the favor of one day shedding his blood for 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 47 

Jesus Christ, could not without grief see this 
new opportunity escape him, and he determined 
to do violence to Heaven in order to bring about 
his wishes. 

At last, one day, urged by the grace of God, 
he threw himself at the feet of the Superior 
General, and begged him, with tears in his 
eyes, not to put any further obstacle in the way 
of his departure for China, whither God ap- 
peared to be calling him. Deeply touched, the 
venerable Superior raised him from the ground, 
and promised to let him go, provided that his 
council, whom he wished to consult previously 
on the subject, should show themselves favor- 
ably inclined. The majority of the council, 
however, declared that, considering the state 
of Father Perboyre' s health, it would be exceed- 
ingly imprudent to allow him to depart, that it 
would be sending him to certain death, and 
represented that he did as much good in France 
as he could ever do in China, and even more. 
Rev. J. B. Etienne, then Procurator General of 
the Congregation, alone pronounced a contrary 
opinion, and begged that as far as the question 
of health was concerned, the matter might be 
referred to the decision of the house doctor. 
He was therefore consulted, and at once de- 
cided that if Father Perboyre started, it was~ 



48 Life of the Blessed 

much to be feared he would die on the way. 
This reply put an end to all hesitation, and it 
was resolved that Father Perboyre should re- 
main where he was. 

It was, however, the eve of the Purification, 
and our future martyr began to implore Mary, 
whom he loved to style his good mother, not to 
abandon him in these difficult circumstances, 
but to intercede for him with her divine Son, 
who holds the hearts of all men in His hands, 
that this decision might be revoked. Strangely 
enough, that same day the doctor, although 
subject to no outward influence, began to 
repent of the advice he had given; the whole 
night through, he found it impossible so much 
as to close his eyes, and calm only returned to 
him when he had resolved to retract what he had 
said. And, in fact, as soon as morning dawned, 
he went off to St. Lazare and announced that 
he had no longer any opposition to offer to the 
departure of Father Perboyre, and that not only 
he saw no danger of immediate death for him 
in the journey, but that he even hoped it might 
have the effect of improving his health. The 
members of the council reversed their verdict, 
and Father Perboyre at last obtained the much 
longed for permission. 

His joy was great, but calm and entirely 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 49 

supernatural. He began by giving thanks to 
God, and to the Blessed Virgin, whose feast 
they were keeping that day, and to whose inter- 
cession he attributed this happy issue. Then 
he wrote to his uncle, and to his dear parents, 
to obtain their consent to this fresh sacrifice, 
rendered the more painful by his heroic deter- 
mination not to go and visit them before leav- 
ing. Then very quietly he set about his own 
preparations for the journey, preparations con- 
sisting chiefly in prayer, and a good general 
confession made with the utmost care. 

On the day fixed for his departure, the nov- 
ices expressed a wish to listen for the last time 
to a master so deservedly revered, and so ten- 
derly loved, and to receive a last blessing from 
one whom they were all longing to follow, and 
whom they looked upon as a saint already, and 
possibly a martyr in the future. But scarcely 
had he pronounced a few words, when his utter- 
ance was choked by an emotion induced even 
more by his humility than by the pain of sep- 
aration. Penetrated with a deep sense of his 
own nothingness and misery, he came down 
from the pulpit, and, prostrating himself in the 
middle of the room, in presence of all the sem- 
inarists, he asked their pardon for the evil 
example he had given them, and for all the 



5o Life of the Blessed 

negligences of which he said he had been 
guilty in the exercise of his duty. The specta- 
tors of this touching scene could only answer 
by their tears, and, throwing themselves on 
their knees in their turn, they entreated the 
humble missionary for his blessing. At last, 
yielding to their entreaties, he blessed them 
with fatherly affection, and then, after a few 
simple and friendly words, he took leave of 
them, recommending himself to their prayers, 
and promising not to forget them before God. 
No. less touching was his leave-taking of the 
other members of the community then present 
in the mother-house. They all assembled in 
the great quadrangle to receive his blessing; 
even the venerable Superior General, Father 
Salhorgne, himself coming down, notwithstand- 
ing his age and infirmities, to press the generous 
apostle for the last time to his heart, and thus 
render public testimony to the esteem and af- 
fection he bore him. Tears were in everyone's 
eyes, and they all recommended themselves to 
the prayers of the saintly missionary. At last 
the moment arrived for separation, and M. 
Perboyre started for Havre, in company with 
two other young missionaries with whom he 
was to set sail for China. 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 51 



CHAPTER V. 

THE JOURNEY FROM HAVRE TO MACAO, AND FROM MACAO 
TO HIS DESTINATION AT HON AN. 

(1835-1836.) 

Departure from Havre and first part of the voyage — A vio- 
lent storm ensues — His health, his occupations, and the 
virtues he practised during the Voyage — He spends some 
time at Java — His arrival at Macao — His reception by his 
brethren in that place — Mutual edification — He studies the 
Chinese language — His holy indifference — Departure from 
Macao— The passage of the Kiang-Si — Halt at Hu-Peh, not 
far from the tomb of the Ven. Father Clet — Consolations 
and difficulties of the Journey — He arrives at Nan-Yang- 
Foo, his destination in the Province of Honan. 

Father Perboyre reached Havre on Monday, 
March 16, 1835, an d> together with his two 
companions and five other priests belonging to 
the Foreign Missions, embarked the following 
Friday on board the Edmonds a French ship 
bound for Java, and which was to set sail the 
following day. On Saturday, the 21st March, 
under the auspices of the Blessed Virgin, he 
left the shores of France, filled with that calm 
and sweet joy which grace alone knows how to 
instil. "I was marveling in my own mind," 
he says, in a description he gives of his journey 
to Batavia, Cl at the dispositions with which God 



52 Life of the Blessed 

had inspired every one of us, when a recollec- 
tion, tender and full of peace as a message from 
Heaven, came suddenly upon me. It was the 
remembrance of my brother Louis, who, not 
five years before, had set forth from the same 
port, on the same journey that we were about 
to undertake, and who had received his recom- 
pense and his crown before even arriving at the 
desired destination. I felt drawn to place our 
voyage under his special protection, and in- 
stantly my soul became buoyed up with con- 
fidence, and my eyes filled with sweet and 
delicious tears." The recollection of this never 
left him, and he wrote afterwards to his uncle : 
" It was impossible for me to make this journey 
to China without thinking of our dear Louis ; I 
loved to picture him to myself walking before 
me, and pointing out the road I was to follow. 
Alas ! he vanished half way, like the star which 

guided the wise men What joy to 

meet him again one day, shining with a fresh 
lustre, and showing me where to find the divine 
King, Jesus!" 

The first days of the voyage were uncom- 
fortable enough; the wind, though favorable, 
was very strong, causing the vessel to roll to 
such a degree that our travelers were forced to 
pay the usual tribute to the ocean. But after 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 53 

the eighth day they sighted the island of 
Madeira, and it became calmer, so that the 
missionaries were able to say Mass almost every 
Sunday and feast-day. "Oh! how happy it 
makes one," writes Father Perboyre in the 
account of his journey already quoted, " to find 
oneself, in the midst of this great ocean desert, 
every now and again in the company of our dear 
Lord." 

And in another letter to a cousin of his, he 
says: "Our Lord makes us forget all past 
troubles and fatigues, and we realize that what 
we do for Him is as nothing in comparison to 
what He has done for us." On Easter Day, 
April 17, they crossed the Equator, and a 
month later doubled the Cape of Good Hope 
without further difficulty. 

But shortly afterwards, on the last day of the 
month of May, they encountered a storm so 
violent that it was only by the visible protection 
of the Blessed Virgin that they escaped at all. 
Father Perboyre gives the following account of 
in the letter already quoted: " On the 31st it 
May, between 60 and 70 degrees east longitude, 
we encountered the most violent tempest. Our 
captain, who had been at sea for thirty-six years, 
said he had never seen one like it. It raged 
with tremendous force for the space of twelve 



54 Life of the Blessed 

hours; enormous waves swept over the bul- 
warks, and broke upon the deck, washing away 
everything that was not securely lashed to its 
place. One wave struck the vessel broadside 
with such force that all the ballast was thrown 
to one side of the hold, and as it broke over the 
poop it swept away the two men at the helm. 
Fortunately, they were not hurt, but one of the 
ship's boats was carried away and never seen 
again. 

" We were filled by turns with terror and 
admiration at the sight of the huge waves that 
swelled up into mountains behind and before, 
shutting us in, as in a vast abyss, so that we could 
not help crying out with the prophet: Mirabiles 
elationes maris, mirabilis in altis Dominus — 
How admirable are the movements of the sea ; 
how admirable is the Lord in the Heavens. 
Nevertheless we possessed our souls in peace, 
loving to abandon ourselves to the good pleasure 
of Him who is able to lead us to the gates of 
death and back again, and who willed to bring 
us all safe and sound out of this terrible danger. 
In the evening, all the missionaries recited in 
common the litany of the Blessed Virgin, the 
Ave Maris Stella, and the little prayer: ' Oh, 
Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who 
have recourse to thee.' Their confidence was 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 55 

not in vain, for scarcely had they lifted up their 
hands toward the Star of the sea, than the storm 
began gradually to abate." 

This storm was the only incident worthy of 
note which occurred to break the monotony of 
the voyage between France and Java. They 
entered the Sunda Straits on Tuesday, 23d June, 
and on the following Friday arrived at Batavia. 

Father Perboyre' s health, which at the time 
of his departure had given rise to such serious 
anxiety, was fortunately none the worse for the 
journey, and he was able to stand, without too 
much fatigue, both the horrors of sea-sickness, 
and the heat of the tropics. The change of air 
seemed even to do him good, and he was less 
troubled by certain infirmities than he had been 
for many years past, thus verifying the words 
of the doctor who, contrary to all human ex- 
pectation, had opened for him the way to 
China. 

These first three months of the sea voyage 
were not time lost for Father Perboyre. He dir 
vided between prayer and study every moment 
that the discomforts of the journey left him free 
to dispose of. His favorite occupation was in 
reading the life of St. Vincent of Paul; but 
everything served to lift up his heart to God, 
whose greatness seemed to him so faithfully 



56 Life of the Blessed 

mirrored in the immensity of the ocean. On 
the 18th July he wrote to his brother: " Before 
I had undertaken a sea voyage I never could 
think of the sea without a secret feeling of ter- 
ror, but since I have been on board ship I have 
never felt the least fear, w T hether at the immen- 
sity of its extent, or the depth and movement of 
its waters. So it is that though now we tremble 
to appear before God, we shall one day taste 
upon His Breast the sweets of a repose hitherto 
unknown." He never allowed himself to in- 
dulge in useless conversations, and was gener- 
ally to be seen either on his knees in his cabin, 
or sitting upon the deck, book in hand, or aban- 
doning himself to the contemplation of the mag- 
nificent spectacle which lay before his eyes, or 
else speaking words of comfort and help to the 
sailors, who always listened to him with the 
most profound respect. It was specially noticed 
with what energy he resisted the attacks of sea- 
sickness from which he suffered most terribly 
at the beginning of the voyage. Those who 
have ever experienced it will know to what a 
state of prostration it reduces the system, and 
they will appreciate the efforts made by Father 
Perboyre when it is said that in the midst of the 
most violent sufferings he never allowed him- 
self to lie down during the daytime or to inter- 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 57 

rupt in any way his course of prayer and study. 
In fact, he was the admiration of both passen- 
gers and crew. " As for him," they used to 
say, " he is a real saint." 

On their arrival at Batavia in the island of Java 
the missionaries had to leave the Edmond and 
embark on board the Royal George, an English 
ship bound for Macao. They weighed anchor 
on the 5th of July to go and take up cargo in 
the roads of Surabaya at the eastern extremity 
of the island. They reached Surabaya on the 
14th, and were forced to remain there three 
weeks, a period which the holy travelers prof- 
ited by to the utmost; going on shore only to say 
Mass, and spending the remainder of their time 
on board, after the fashion of the most fervent 
religious in their cells. 

At last, having sailed from Surabaya on the 
7th August, Father Perboyre arrived at Macao 
on the 29th of the same month, a Saturday, and 
the day on which the Church is accustomed to 
celebrate the martyrdom of St. John the Bap- 
tist. It seemed like a foreboding of the glori- 
ous death that was aw r aiting him in the country 
where he had just set foot. His joy was boundless 
when he found himself at last at the end of his 
voyage, and a few da}^s after landing he wrote to 
Father Le Go, one of the assistants of the Con- 



58 Life of the Blessed 

gregation. "Here I am! That is the pass- 
word which was to be my first sign of life to 
you on arriving at Macao. Yes, here I am, and 
blessed be the Lord who has himself led and 
borne me hither. Si sumpsero pennas meas 
diliculo et habitavero in extremis maris, etenim 
illuc manas tua dedncit me et tenebit me dextera 
tita — 'If I shall take to myself the wings of the 
morning and fly to the uttermost parts of the 
sea, even there, O Lord, Thy hand shall lead 
me, and Thy right hand shall uphold me.' 
Although we were ready to make a journey a 
hundred times as long if obedience had re- 
quired it, I can assure you that it was with no 
small contentment that we beheld the end of it, 
and our hearts were filled to overflowing when 
we set foot upon that land for which we had 
sighed so long." 

Father Perboyre received the most affection- 
ate greeting from his brethren at Macao, and 
from their superior, Father Torrette, who had 
been ordained priest at the same time as him- 
self. He was obliged to spend some months in 
this town, so as to acquaint himself with the 
Chinese language and customs, and this period 
he turned to account for the salification of his 
soul, turning it, as it were, into a long spiritual 
retreat. We gather this from a letter he wrote 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 59 

to the priest who had succeeded him as master 
of novices in Paris: " Although our good God 
granted us many graces in the course of our 
long journey, it was not difficult to recognize 
the truth of the maxim ; ' They who travel much 
rarely become saints: J^ui multum -peregrin- 
antur raro sanctificantur ' We felt the need of 
solitude in order to recollect ourselves, and 
gain fresh strength both for soul and body, 
before entering upon our great campaign in the 
interior of China, and at Macao we found all 
that we could want in that respect. The good 
spirit and the fervor that reign in our Chinese 
Seminary have afforded us the same happiness 
that we felt in Paris. Here, as in Paris, sim- 
plicity and piety, modesty and quietness, 
humility and charity, have formed an earthly 
paradise which must have been lived in to be 
realized." 

No less great was the edification he gave to 
others. All the attempts of Father Torre tte to 
make him accept the special care and consid- 
eration which was due to his infirmities and his 
eminent virtue were forced to give way before 
his humility, and he succeeded in getting him- 
self treated as the lowest of the missionaries. 
The Portuguese Lazarists who directed the 
diocesan seminary in the same town managed 



60 Life of the Blessed 

to persuade him to spend a few days with them, 
and were so struck by his holiness that they 
could never after speak of him without tears. 

His time was spent partly in exercises of piety 
and partly in learning the Chinese language, a 
study in which he encountered many difficulties 
both on account of his age and the constant 
headaches from which he suffered. "We have 
begun to study Chinese," he wrote to Father 
Le Go in the letter already quoted. "I am 
afraid it will take me a long time to learn if I 
am to judge from my first attempts. They say 
that Father Clet could only speak it with great 
difficulty. My life hitherto has borne some re- 
semblance to his. God grant that I may carry 
to the end this resemblance to the revered 
brother whose apostolic life was crowned by the 
palm of martyrdom." Hard work and perse- 
verance made amends for the facility that was 
wanting, and at the end of three months Father 
Perboyre was able to express himself tolerably 
well. He continued to devote to this study 
every moment which he could spare from his 
devotional exercises and the duties he was called 
upon to perform, and God so blessed his 
endeavors that he was soon able to preach, to 
hear confessions and to give catechism. More 
than this, in the course of the long and numer- 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 6i 

ous interrogatories to which he was subjected 
during his captivity, his judges marveled no 
less at his knowledge of their language than at 
the heroic courage he displayed in the midst of 
his sufferings. 

Thus occupied, he patiently waited to have a 
mission assigned to him. "Are you not going 
to ask me," he wrote to Father Le Go, "what 
my destination in this new w r orld is to be? I 
must own to complete ignorance on that point. 
For some time past my principal resolution has 
been the practice of holy indifference, and on 
arriving here I tried to hold more firmly to it 
than ever. The first few days, whenever I 
opened my Imitation at hazard, my eyes always 
fell upon these words: 'My son, let me do as I 
have a mind in your regard. I know what is 
best for you.' And then I hastened to reply by 
one of the following verses, 'Lord, provided 
that my will shall continue straight and firmly 
attached to Thine, do with me as it shall please 
Thee.' I love this mystery of Providence, 
which takes pleasure in making me live in this 
manner, from day to day. When the time comes, 
we shall each of us receive our mission, and I 
am not going to trouble myself as to which one 
will fall to my lot." 

The time was not far off. The needs of 



62 Life of the Blessed 

Honan called for such a missionary as divine 
Providence seemed to have prepared in Father 
Perboyre; and early in December he was des- 
tined for that mission. 

It was on the 21st of December that Father 
Perboyre left Macao for his new destination, 
having to pass through many dangers of all 
sorts before arriving. He had to start at night, 
and to hide himself more than once in the course 
of the journey in order to escape the official 
visits of the Chinese authorities,. and any indis- 
creet observation that might have compromised 
him; the laws of the Empire forbidding, under 
pain of death, any European to penetrate into 
the interior. 

The first part of the journey was by sea, 
coasting along the provinces of Quang-Tong 
and Fo-Kien, following the endless indenta- 
tions of the coast line, thus making the voyage 
both lengthy and monotonous. But Father 
Perboyre solaced the tedium of the journey by 
applying himself with increased ardor to the 
study of Chinese, contenting himself, as we 
find in one of his letters, with one meal at 9 
o'clock in the morning and another at 7 at 
night, so as to devote more time to his studies. 

At last, on the 22d of February, 1836, more 
than two months after leaving Macao, he ar- 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 63 

rived at the town of Fuh-Ning, situated on the 
east coast of China, and at the northern ex- 
tremity of the province of Fo-Kien. Leaving 
that town to his right, he penetrated into the 
interior of the country, and made a halt of some 
days at the residence of the Vicar Apostolic of 
that province, from whom he received the most 
cordial welcome. On March 15 he set off 
again for Kiang-Si, a province which he had 
to traverse at the cost of fresh fatigues and 
fresh dangers. Later on he wrote as follows 
to his uncle: "Traveling through a country 
whose language we could not speak, and with 
whose customs we were ill acquainted, we had 
to advance with all the uncertainty and caution 
of people who find themselves treading on a 
quicksand. But as our small stock of exper- 
ience increased, and we found ourselves get- 
ting on with impunity, our boldness increased 
in like measure. Besides, the less confidence 
we were able to repose in ourselves and in our 
guides, the more absolutely did we place our 
trust in God." 

This confidence was not misplaced, and hav- 
ing successfully passed all the custom houses, 
Father Perboyre arrived on the 15th of April at 
the Christian settlement of Hankow, near Woo- 
Chan-Foo, where, he stopped for a day or two. 



64 Life of the Blessed 

This country, already watered by the blood of 
one martyr, and where he himself was des- 
tined to shed his own for the faith, brought to 
his mind a very dear and a very glorious recol- 
lection. " The first office I said here," he 
wrote to his uncle, "was that of St. Cletus, 
Pope and martyr. Such a striking similarity 
of name was not needed to make me remember 
that I was on the same spot where our dear 
martyr, Father Clet, had given up his life for 
Jesus Christ. Oh ! how ardently I longed to 
make a pilgrimage to his tomb, which was only 
two short leagues from the house where I was 
lodging, but it was judged more expedient to 
defer this to some future time." Divine Prov- 
idence had decreed that this future time should 
only be after his own death, when, by a happy 
coincidence, he was to share the burial place of 
him whom he had so revered, and whose ex- 
ample he had so well imitated. 

In the beginning of May Father Perboyre had 
the consolation of finding two of his brethren, 
Father Rameaux and Father Baldus, in the 
mountains. He remained some weeks with 
them, even accompanying them to their mis- 
sions, and thinking himself fortunate in being 
able to model himself upon them and to profit 
by their experience. But soon the breaking out 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 65 

of a persecution obliged them to separate in 
order more easily to avoid discovery, and 
Father Perboyre was forced to continue his 
journey alone. Let us hear his own account of 
its fatigues. 

"I started in a Christian boat that had just 
been used by a mandarin. The journey lasted 
eight days, and I spent my time as usual in 
studying Chinese ; on the 26th of June I left the 
river for good and all, and in company with the 
boatman began a new campaign on foot. My 
legs were weak from want of exercise in the 
boat, and that night I was very tired. The next 
day we had some ten leagues to go, through a 
very rough and mountainous country. After 
much trouble and many efforts I reached the 
foot of the last hill, but there my strength failed 
me and I could go no further. Looking at the 
hill I remembered that I had with me a little 
crucifix blessed with the Indulgence of the way 
of the Cross, and this seemed to me evidently 
the moment for gaining it. For some hours 
past I had only been able to drag myself along 
by the help of my umbrella, which was thus 
rendered useless as a protection against the rain 
which was falling in torrents. I used to sit down 
upon every stone I came across, and then 
started off to climb afresh, sometimes on my 



66 Life of the Blessed 

hands and knees. If I may be permitted to say- 
so, I would have climbed with my teeth, had 
that been necessary, to follow the path Divine 
Providence had traced for me. My poor guide 
was forced to treat me like a broken-down old 
horse, picking me up and hustling me along; 
but he was helped in his charitable labors by a 
young man, who came down the hill toward us. 
Several Christians were minding their flocks 
on these heights, and on seeing me they guessed 
who I was and came to meet me. As I had not 
been able to eat anything all day, their first idea 
was to make me take something, but I threw up 
almost immediately even the very little I was 
able to swallow. They comforted me by assur- 
ing me that they were all Christians in those 
mountains, and indeed in all the neighboring 
country. At last I reached the summit of that 
terrible hill, and on the other side I discovered, 
hidden in a grove of bamboos, our little resi- 
dence, where Father Rameaux and one of the 
Chinese brethren received me with open arms. 
I soon forgot my fatigues in their company. 

. Father Baldus came in his turn to breathe 
the community atmosphere of our retreat, where 
we numbered as many as twenty persons, in- 
cluding missionaries, catechists, students, etc." 
But this time spent in the society of his breth- 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 67 

ren, agreeable and useful though it was to him, 
came very quickly to an end. He was obliged 
to separate from his companions about the mid- 
dle of July, and five days later, towards mid- 
night, he reached the residence that had been 
assigned to him at Nan-Yang-Foo, which hap- 
pened to be the very same house in which 
Father Clet had been arrested. 



68 Life of the Blessed 



CHAPTER VI. 

HIS MISSIONS IN HON AN AND HU-PEH. 

(1836-1839.) 

His dispositions on arriving at Honan — Serious illness — 
His first missions — Labors and successes — Recollections of 
Father Clet — Vacation — He leaves the mission of Honan for 
Hu-Peh — New occupations — A Sunday, or feast day — Good 
use of his time — Privations and fatigues blessed by 
Almighty God — Painful interior trial — Appearance of Our 
Lord, who delivers him from it. 

Sixteen months had passed since he left 
France, and Father Perboyre had traversed 
some eight thousand leagues of country. " I 
have traveled enough," he wrote to his uncle 
on the 1 oth August, "to make me never wish 
for another long journey again, until I enter 
upon that one which is to be made neither by 
land nor by sea. But meantime I shall hardly 
be able to avoid long excursions into the interior 
of this vast China. I must do it, having come 
from so far for no other reason than to run 
about here. God grant that I may so run as to 
obtain the incorruptible crown : Sic currite ut 
comfr'ehendatis" (1 Cor. ix. 24). 

This last wish was destined to be fulfilled, 
and within a short period this valiant soldier of 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 69 

Christ was to consummate his long and glorious 
career. Not being able to make all the prog- 
ress he would have desired, he envied his fel- 
low laborers the power that their more intimate 
knowledge of the language and customs of the 
country gave them, of procuring the glory of 
God and the salvation of souls. " I should 
like," he wrote on the 18th August, 1836, " to 
glean a few little ears, so as to have something 
to place beside the great sheaves of my brethren 
in the granary of our Father." 

For a moment it seemed as though God, sat- 
isfied with his good intentions, was about to 
bestow on him his recompense. A serious ill- 
ness laid him almost at death's door, and it was 
thought advisable to administer the last sacra- 
ments to him. He was saved, however, by the 
permission of Providence, and within three 
months his health was almost re-established. 
He applied himself afresh to the study of 
Chinese, and although he had not as yet quite 
recovered his strength, he undertook his first 
mission in company with a Chinese priest. The 
mission was a great success; the Christians 
whom he had been evangelizing were unable to 
resist the efforts of his zeal, and abandoning the 
evil ways into which they had fallen, they all 
came to their duties. Encouraged by this first 



70 Life of the Blessed 

success he embarked regularly upon his mis- 
sionary career, and his labors were blessed with 
much fruit. These happy results were, how- 
ever, only obtained at the expense of a great 
deal of fatigue, as we may judge by the follow- 
ing extract from a letter written by him to the 
Director of the Seminary of the Congregation, 
25th September, 1837: 

"As soon as I had recovered my strength I 
undertook the administration of a Christian set- 
tlement in Honan, in company with one of our 
Chinese brethren. In order to visit fifteen hun- 
dred Christians scattered about in some twenty 
settlements, we had to journey for more than 
three hundred leagues, and to traverse the 
province in its entire breadth. This expedition 
lasted for six months. To give you some idea 
of it, I will go over the route with you. Imag- 
ine our residence and our starting point to be 
in the diocese of Cahors. We begin by giving 
a few missions in those parts, and then start off 
to give others in the dioceses of Albi, Puy, 
Autun, Orleans, Versailles and Amiens; — that 
will show you the relative positions of the dis- 
tricts and the distances we have had to traverse. 

"As you may imagine, this is not done with- 
out some fatigue. We traveled sometimes on 
foot, or oftener in carts without springs, along 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 71 

roads that are never repaired either by the gov- 
ernment or by private individuals, generally 
starting from a Christian house in'the night time 
and arriving at another also at night; our 
beards white with the frost of the winter morn- 
ings, our faces tanned and the skin peeling off 
our necks, ears and foreheads from the heat of 
the summer. I am not going to describe the 
ordinary Chinese inn to you; the picture, to be 
complete, would be too disgusting; I shall only 
remark that to any one eager for privations or 
mortifications it would prove a real treasure 
house. Still, one is glad enough to rest there 
and sleep a little after the fatigues of the day, 
even though the best bed they can furnish be a 
mat spread on the ground or on a little trestle. 
;i We were occasionally subjected to some an- 
noyance on arriving at these inns, either from a 
police agent who wanted to take down our 
names and subject us to a cross-examination, or 
from some official who would force us to give 
up our lodging to him and seek hospitality for 
ourselves elsewhere. Having to keep up one's 
character as a native of the country during 
these journeys is not the least of the many diffi- 
culties for a European missionary. In order 
not to betray himself he has to keep in the 
background, and leave the Christians who ac- 



72 Life of the Blessed 

company him to speak and act, and even they, 
in spite of the precautions dictated by their 
prudence or fears, are not free from apprehen- 
sion. But the missionary himself is so con- 
scious of the liberty within his own heart that he 
is lifted up and filled with joy even in the midst 
of dangers." 

What also supported him was the memory of 
Father Clet, the glorious martyr with whom 
Divine Providence seemed already to have 
given him so many traits of resemblance, and 
whose death he regarded with envy. "Several 
times in the course, of my journeyings," he 
writes in the same letter, "I have either fol- 
lowed or crossed the roads along which this 
venerable brother of mine had passed, whilst he 
was being led about, loaded with chains, to the 
various tribunals in this province and in that of 
Hoo-Kwang, and I assure you it was not with- 
out emotion that I heard him spoken of by my 
fellow-travelers. As for me, I count myself 
happy to be able to labor in this same portion of 
the Lord's vineyard that he cultivated with so 
much zeal and success, and his memory, lov- 
ingly cherished as it is here, is of no small ad- 
vantage in inciting me to follow in his footsteps 
and carry on the good work he began. 

" Our vacation is over for this year, if one 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 73 

may call vacation a time spent in studying, 
hearing confessions, preaching, instructing our 
future seminarists, surrounded by a crowd of 
children, who come every day to learn their 
prayers and catechism. We are about to begin 
our annual retreat, and then we start on a fresh 
campaign. Pray God to bless our little work, 
to sanctify our labors and make them fruitful. 
Labors and sufferings are not wanting to a 
missionary, but they are so precious in the eyes 
of faith that it is well worth going even to the 
end of the world to seek them." 

Two years had hardly been spent in this 
apostolic work in the province of Honan, when 
obedience obliged Father Perboyre to quit it 
for another field of labor. In this new district 
he had no longer any long and painful journeys 
to make, but his ministry subjected him to many 
sufferings and privations. 

" In the month of January last," he wrote to 
his cousin on the 12th September, 1838, "I was 
recalled to Hu-Peh by Father Rameaux, supe- 
rior of that mission. The district which I have 
since occupied, and which I have only quitted 
in order to visit two little Christian settlements 
a short distance off, is situated in the middle of 
the mountains. It embraces an area of two 
or three leagues in length and a little less in 



74 Life of the Blessed 

breadth. The Christian population numbering 
in all about two thousand, interspersed with 
only a very few pagans, is divided into about 
fifteen settlements, but so scattered that there 
is nothing resembling even a small village. In 
the middle of the district is a small residence 
belonging to the mission. The missionary is 
like a priest in the centre of a large parish, in 
constant communication with all the Christians 
of the district. He is often sent for both by 
night and day to administer the sick, for the 
Chinese Christians are always most eager for 
the Sacraments at the least approach of danger. 
There is at all times, but especially on Sundays, 
or feast days, such a multitude of people for 
confession that three priests in constant attend- 
ance would find it difficult to satisfy all their 
wants. 

"But it is especially on Sundays and feast days 
that the flock crowds round its pastor. From 
the beginning of the day to its close our Church 
is full of people. First of all we recite morn- 
ing prayers in common, the prayers for the feast, 
and part of the Catechism ; then they hear Mass, 
a sermon is preached and Catechism is given to 
the children. In the afternoon we say the Ro- 
sary, and the way of the Cross, and a confer- 
ence takes place in which all take a part after 



John Gabriel Peboyre. 75 

the simple and familiar method of St. Vincent 
of Paul. Add to all this confessions, baptisms, 
confirmations, marriages, admissions to the va- 
rious confraternities, the granting of dispensa- 
tions, the examination of the difficulties that 
present themselves in the different settlements, 
questions concerning doctrine, private instruc- 
tions and exhortations, counsels and correc- 
tions, occasionally the performance of the duties 
of a magistrate, which it is not always possible 
to decline, and you will have some small idea 
of the occupations of a missionary on one of 
their Sundays or feast days/' 

And in another letter to one of his compan- 
ions, Father Aladel, dated the 10th August of 
the following year, 1839, ^ e adds: "I have 
been settled in these mountains for the last two 
years, and I still continue to exercise my sacred 
ministry, the duties of which occupy me so com- 
pletely that I have neither time to look back- 
ward nor forward. Between the Nativity of 
Our Lady of last year, and Whitsuntide this 
year, I undertook seventeen missions or visita- 
tions of Christian settlements, and I can not say 
that I have had a single moment's respite since 
then. It is impossible for me to take a holiday, 
for we are in the midst of an immense number 
of Christians, who, for the most part, like to 



76 Life of the Blessed 

come frequently to confession. If, for instance, 
I were able to hear a thousand or more conf es • 
sions on this feast of the Assumption, I should 
find quite that number disposed to go. When 
the feast is over I shall make my retreat, and 
then I shall start off again to missionarize for a 
good part of the year." 

To the fatigues of his sacred ministry were 
added the privations of a poor and mortified 
life. Having nothing but a dark, unhealthy 
house to live in, without a chimney and almost 
without windows, where it was impossible to 
light a fire without being enveloped in thick 
smoke ; his food consisted for the most part of 
rice, or of herbs boiled in water without any 
seasoning, and his only bed was the bare ground 
or a mat spread upon a board. Besides this, 
the excessive heat and the continual torments of 
hunger and thirst increased his sufferings, in 
addition to the natural weakness of his constitu- 
tion, and the many infirmities which he bore 
with the most admirable patience. And as 
though all this were not enough to satisfy his 
love of the Cross, he imposed upon himself the 
most rigorous penances, disciplining himself 
even unto blood, wearing a rough hair shirt and 
an iron chain about his loins. And to crown all, 
coming in contact as he continually did with 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 77 

these poor Christians regardless of any of the 
obligations of cleanliness, he soon became cov- 
ered with the same vermin as they themselves, 
and following the example of many saints, 
through a spirit of penance, he suffered himself 
to be, as it were, eaten up alive by them, tak- 
ing no steps to guard against them or to free 
himself from such torture. The blessing of God 
rested visibly upon his ministry, giving him 
grace to instruct the ignorant, to convert sinners 
and apostates, to instil fresh fervor into the luke- 
warm, and to bestow upon all alike the strength 
to confess their faith if need be, in the midst of 
the greatest torments. 

He, on his side, seemed to be preparing him- 
self by the study of the Acts of the Apostles for 
the glorious struggle in which he was soon to 
engage. But our Lord, who, without doubt, 
found a delightful abode in this holy soul, had a 
mind to make this preparation even more entire 
and more perfect, by purifying the victim and 
causing him to pass through the crucible of a 
still more severe trial. Before enduring the 
sufferings of His passion in Jerusalem and on 
Calvary, He willed him to share also the anguish 
of His sorrowful agony in the Garden of 
Olives. 

For several months Father Perboyre became 



78 Life of the Blessed 

a prey to the most violent temptation to despair, 
in the same way as St. Francis of Sales had 
been tried whilst making his studies in Paris. 
He was persuaded that his name had been 
blotted out of the book of life, and that he was 
destined to burn for all eternity in hell, and 
there seemed to him nothing left to hope for, 
from the mercy of God. He could see in God 
nothing but a severe judge, rightly incensed 
against him, on account of his innumerable sins, 
and his abuse of so many graces. In vain did 
he pray; God seemed to reject his prayers and 
to repulse him with scorn and anger. His very 
crucifix, from which he was accustomed to 
derive such great consolation, seemed as if deaf, 
or rather from its sacred wounds as from so 
many mouths there seemed to issue reproaches 
and sentences of condemnation. He could find 
no relief to his sufferings either before the 
Tabernacle or in the celebration of the Holy 
Sacrifice, in which he imagined himself to be 
forever renewing the crime of Judas. 

These sufferings were not slow to react upon 
his health; sleep fled from his eyelids, and all 
food speedily became distasteful to him. He 
seemed to grow paler day by day, and to wither 
away like a plant scorched by the burn- 
ing sun, and he would doubtless have sue- 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 79 

cumbed had not God Himself put an end to the 
trial. 

But our Lord took pity upon his faithful ser- 
vant, and deigning to appear to him, as it were, 
upon the Cross, He cast on him a look of un 
speakable kindness, and said in loving accents: 
" Why do you fear? Did I not die for your 
sake? Put your hands into my sacred side, 
and do not fear but that you shall be saved." 
Then the vision disappeared, and the soul of 
the holy missionary was left full of a delicious 
peace, that nothing was able ever to disturb 
again. 

It was remarked as a strange thing that from 
that moment the terrible emaciation caused by 
all he had undergone in this time of trial 
entirely disappeared, and the next day he was 
apparently in his usual health. 

"He himself related this fact to me," said 
Father Baldus, "in the course of a conversa- 
tion I had with him in our residence at Kou- 
tchen-Kieng, and I noticed that he spoke of the 
circumstance as having happened to a third 
person. To show him that I was not to be 
taken in by his pious dissimulation, I at once 
said to him, ' I know whom you are speaking of 
— this happened to yourself.' His embarrass- 
ment and evasive answers served to convince 



8o Life of the Blessed 

me as much as a full avowal could have 
done." 

This vision was like the apparition of the 
angel to our Lord in the grotto at the moment 
of his agony: afiftaritit autem Hit angelns con- 
fort ans eum (Luke, xxii. 43), It gave him 
strength and prepared him for the last terrible 
combat that was to bring his apostolic career to 
such a glorious end. 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 



CHAPTER VII. 

HE IS ARRESTED — AND SUBJECTED TO VARIOUS EXAMINA- 
TIONS BEFORE BEING SENT TO WU-CHAN-FOO. 

Persecution in Hu-Peh— The residence of the missiona- 
ries is pillaged and burned — Flight of the venerable servant 
of God — He is betrayed by one of his own people, taken 
up, and ill-treated — He is interrogated at Kvvang-in-tam — 
Departure for Kou-tchen-Kieng — Kind action of a pagan — 
At Kou-tchen-Kieng he is brought up first before the mili- 
tary, then before the civil mandarin — He is taken to Siang- 
yang-fou and brought up before the governor of the town — 
He is then taken before a mandarin of the first order. 

At the time when Father Perboyre penetrated 
into the interior of China, there existed a law 
enacted in 1794 by the Emperor Kiang-Lung 
proscribing the Christian religion, and con- 
demning to death any European, and to exile 
any Chinese subject who should make profes- 
sion of it. The enforcement of this law had 
already been the cause of several persecutions, 
of which the most violent, after the one of 1805, 
took place in 1820, and obtained the palm of 
martyrdom for the venerable Father Clet. 

For some time, however, the Christians, and 
those of Hu-Peh, in particular, had enjoyed 
tolerable tranquillity, when suddenly a fresh 
persecution was set on foot. It began in the 



82 Life of the Blessed 

town of Nan-Kiang where several Christians 
were seized. Among these was a young man, 
the son of the catechist, Peng-Tim-Siang, who, 
terrified at the threats of the satellites and won 
over by their blandishments, miserably betrayed 
his brethren, giving their names and dwellings, 
and pointing out the places where they were 
accustomed to assemble with the missionaries. 
Instantly orders were given to the mandarin of 
Kou-tchen-Kieng to seize both the pastors and 
their flock. A company of soldiers led by two 
commissaries of the Viceroy of Wu-chan-foo, 
one civil and tw r o military mandarins were dis- 
patched to the residence of the missionaries at 
Tcha-Yuen-Kiu, a little town in the department 
of Kou-tchen-Kieng, near the market of Quango 
in-Tam. Father Perboyre happened to be there 
in company with Father Baldus, a missionary 
of the Propaganda, on his way through the 
province of Hu-Peh, Father Joseph Rizzolati, 
an Italian capuchin, and a Chinese priest, Fa- 
ther Ouan, who had all assembled on the octave 
of the nativity, to celebrate together the feast of 
the Holy Name of Mary. It was a Sunday, 15th 
September, 1839, an d all the Christians of the 
country round had come to hear Mass, and to 
assist at the other religious exercises which were 
to complete the celebration of Sunday. The 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 83 

last Mass was just over, and a few of the faith- 
ful were still in the church with Father Per- 
boyre, Father Baldus and Father Rizzolati. 
Suddenly a Christian of the name of Tom-ta- 
youn rushed in and announced that the perse- 
cution had broken out, that the soldiers were 
marching upon the church under the leadership 
of the mandarins, and were only a short way 
off, adding that there was no time to lose, and 
that a speedy flight was the only means of in- 
suring the safety of all. 

Father Baldus and Father Rizzolati hastened 
to profit by this advice. But the intrepid ser- 
vant of God could not make up his mind to 
abandon his beloved flock. In vain he strove 
to persuade himself and them that the dan- 
ger was not so imminent, the soldiers were 
heard approaching, and the people all leaving 
him, fled. It was not until illusion was no 
longer possible, and that he perceived it would 
be rashness to expose his life any further, that 
he himself thought of flight. Gathering up as 
best he could the sacred objects he wished to 
save from profanation, he made his way out by 
a secret door just as the mandarin and his sat- 
ellites rushed into the church. Furious at find- 
ing that their prey had escaped them they seized 
upon everything of value that they could find in 



84 Life of the Blessed 

the church or in the mission house and finally 
set fire to all the books and papers they could 
lay hands on, but with so little precaution that 
the whole building was soon ablaze, and a man- 
darin himself only escaped with difficulty from 
the flames. 

Meantime, the venerable servant of God had 
taken refuge in a forest of bamboo trees, some 
short way from the church, where he managed 
to conceal himself. When night fell he left his 
hiding-place and made his way to the house of 
the catechist Ly-tsou-hoa, where he got some 
food, of which he was sadly in need after all 
the fatigues and anxieties of the day, and hav- 
ing caused his beard to be cut off so that he 
might be less easily recognized as a European 
he was taken to spend the night at the house of 
another Christian some three hundred yards off. 

Rather than compromise his hosts, the ven- 
erable fugitive left them before day-break next 
morning, 10th September, and sought shelter in 
a neighboring forest, accompanied by his ser- 
vant, Thomas Sin Ly-Siam, another Christian 
named Ouan-Kouan-King, and Ly-Tse-Mim, 
father of the catechist. 

He would have been safe in this retreat and 
secure from all detection had not Providence, 
in order to make him still more like his divine 



' John Gabriel Perboyre. 85 

model, willed that he also should be betrayed 
by one of his own people. The neophite, 
Kiung-Lao-San, like a new Judas, was induced 
either by fear or avarice to reveal their place 
of concealment to the soldiers. Instantly sur- 
rounding the forest, they searched it through 
and through, like so many wild beasts looking 
for their prey. At last two of them came upon 
the servant of God and his three companions. 
Flight being impossible, and perceiving that 
they were superior to their assailants in point 
of numbers, Thomas proposed to his master 
that they should offer resistance. But he, rec 
ollecting that in the garden of Gethsemane 
Jesus would not suffer St. Peter to make use 
of his sword, forbade all violence to his brave 
and devoted follower. Thomas obeyed, and 
with the exception of Ly-Tse-Mim, who sue 
ceeded in making good his escape, all the ' 
Christians who had taken refuge in the forest 
fell into the hands of their enemies. 

These latter hastened to surround the holy 
missionary, and falling upon him in their fury 
they seized him by his hair,* and dragged him 
to the top of the neighboring hill. There they 



*The Chinese as is well known are in the habit of letting 
their hair grow long behind, and plaiting it into the form 
of a long pig tail. 



86 Life of the Blessed 

stripped him of all his clothes, leaving him only 
a few poor rags to cover him, tied his hands 
behind his back, and having given him three 
sword cuts across his shoulders, led him, load- 
ed with chains, to the market town of Quang- 
In-Tam. Very patiently and bravely the ser- 
vant of God bore all this ill-treatment, never 
allowing so much as a complaint or a cry of 
pain to escape him. 

On arriving at Quang-In-Tam he was brought 
before the civil magistrate of the town of Kou- 
tchen-Kieng, who was there awaiting the pris- 
oner. " It was heart-breaking to see him," an 
eye-witness relates, " clad in nothing but a dirty 
torn shirt and a pair of drawers, a chain round 
his neck* and his hands fastened behind his 
back, surrounded by the soldiery, who were 
pulling his hair and his ears to force him to 
look at the mandarin before whom he was 
made to kneel." 

On being questioned by the judge as to 
whether he was a European and the head of the 
false sect of the Christians, he replied at once, 
regardless of death or the repeated torments 
that might result from his avowal: "I am a 
European, and a Catholic missionary." The 
enraged mandarin caused him to be separated 
from his companions, loaded with fresh chains, 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 87 

and carried with his hands and feet bound to 
the shop of a Pagan named Haou, proverbial 
for his cruelty which had gained him the sur- 
name of San-Pao-Tsou, or tiger to the third 
degree, and under whose care he was to pass 
the night. Eight men were chosen from among 
the richest of the place, who were supposed for 
that reason to be less easily induced to let the 
prisoner escape through hope of gain, and were 
commissioned to watch him through the night 
and guard him strictly until the following day. 
Early in the morning of Tuesday, 17th Septem- 
ber, orders were given to the soldiers to convey 
their prisoner to Kou-tchen-Kieng, a town at 
some distance from Quang-In-Tam. But the 
venerable servant of God, worn out by the 
cruel treatment he had received, and exhausted 
by fatigue and hunger, was unable to make the 
journey on foot. The painful march had 
already begun, and the valiant athlete of Jesus 
Christ, passing through the middle of the 
market place, was being exposed to every sort 
of injury and outrage from the hostile crowd 
that surrounded him, when a Pagan named 
Lieu-Kioun-Lin, the syndic of the place, caught 
sight of him and was moved with compassion. 
Drawing near to the crowd, he requested to be 
allowed to have the prisoner transported on a 



88 Life of the Blessed 

litter, and having obtained the necessary per- 
mission he himself paid the bearers and accom- 
panied the litter as far as the town. This good 
action did not go unrewarded. Profoundly 
touched by the kindness shown him, the vener- 
able servant of God affectionately thanked his 
benefactor, but his gratitude did not stop there. 
As soon as he had won his martyr's crown, as 
we shall show hereafter, he appeared to the 
charitable Pagan and obtained for him shortly 
before his death the grace of baptism. 

On his arrival at Kou-tchen-Kieng where still 
greater torments awaited him, the servant of 
God was immediately carried before a military 
mandarin, who demanded of him who he was, 
and for what reason he had penetrated into the 
Chinese Empire. " I am a European," he re- 
plied, "and I am come here to spread the 
Catholic religion and to exhort all men to avoid 
evil and do good." The mandarin, but little 
touched by this solemn profession of faith, 
replied that he spoke falsely, and that his rear 
object was to deceive the inhabitants of the 
Celestial Empire. But the servant of God 
replied only by silence to this affront. He 
scarcely condescended even to answer the pro- 
posal made to him to renounce his faith, con- 
tenting himself with expressing his horror at 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 89 

their suggestion by a simple shake of the head. 
The mandarin, irritated at his silence, caused 
his satellites to strike him on the face, and after 
receiving a hundred blows with a bamboo he 
was thrown into prison. But no repose was 
vouchsafed to the poor frame already weakened 
by suffering, fresh tortures were inflicted on 
him, the brave-hearted confessor enduring 
everything with admirable sweetness and 
patience. 

The following day he was led to the tribunal 
of the civil magistrate, and subjected to a fresh 
cross-examination. Among other things that had 
been carried off from the missionaries, were cer- 
tain objects consecrated to the divine service. 
The mandarin caused these things to be fetched, 
and then taking one by one into his hands, the 
chalice, the missal, the sacred vestments and all 
that pertained to the holy sacrifice of the Mass, 
he asked the servant of God what they were 
used for. 

He replied that they were used for offering a 
sacrifice to Almighty God. When they asked 
him whether he was a European and the head of 
a false and impious sect, he replied, "I am a 
European and a missionary, not of a false and 
impious sect, but of the one only true religion. " 
Then pointing to the case of holy oils the man- 



go Life of the Blessed 

darin inquired whether it did not contain water 
extracted from the eyes of sick people that they 
had torn out.* ' 'Never," he replied, "have I 
been guilty of such a crime." 

At last the mandarin sought to make him deny 
his faith by putting a crucifix on the ground and 
ordering him to trample it under foot. But the 
valiant confessor replied, "Though you should 
kill me, I would never deny my faith, or tram-v 
pie upon the cross." 

"If you do not conform," continued the man- 
darin, "I shall have you put to death." 

"Very well," he replied, "I shall account 
myself happy to die for my faith." 

At this the mandarin ordered him to receive 
forty blows with a heavy leather strap upon his 
cheeks, wounding and disfiguring his face in the 
most horrible manner. He was then led back 
to prison and given over to the satellites. 

This was the third time that the servant of 
God had made a generous confession of his 
faith before his judges, without their having 
been able to draw from him a single word or act 
capable of being construed into a denial. Did 
it not seem as though God, satisfied with these 



*This is one of the most widely spread prejudices against 
Christians among the Chinese. 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 91 

proofs of his love, were already preparing his 
reward, and that the dauntless confessor was 
drawing nigh to that death so longingly desired, 
and so calmly and joyfully expected. But it 
was not to be; here below, still harder combats 
were to fall to his lot, just because a still more 
beautiful crown was awaiting him above. 

After being interrogated several times by the 
civil and military mandarins at Kou-tchen- 
Kieng, in the midst of the most cruel tortures, 
the servant of God was taken by the soldiers to 
Siang-Yang-Foo, an important town situated at 
a distance of a hundred and forty leagues. The 
journey was made by water on the river Han- 
Cong, and was to him the occasion of renewed 
sufferings. Bound hand and foot he was thrown 
into a boat, separated from all the other Chris- 
tian prisoners, and whilst they were given all 
they needed in the way of food and drink, he 
was denied any refreshment during the entire 
course of this long journey. 

At last they arrived at Siang-Yang-Foo, and 
he was thrown into a horrible prison, where he 
remained some days, neither insults nor ill- 
treatment being spared him. On the appointed 
day he was brought before the governor of the 
town, who examined him afresh, putting the 
same questions concerning his position as a 



92 Life of the Blessed 

European and a Catholic missionary, and re- 
ceiving precisely the same answers. The man- 
darin then proposed to him to trample upon the 
crucifix which was laid down at his feet, but the 
servant of God answered sincerely and firmly, 
"That I shall never do." 

Seeing that his threats were vain, the governor 
thought to gain his end more surely by employ- 
ing such reasoning as is affected by so-called 
philosophers of the modern school. 

"What do you gain," he asked, "by adoring 
God?" 

"The salvation of my soul," replied the con- 
fessor, "and Heaven, where I hope to go when 
I die." 

"Fool!" returned the mandarin; "have you 
ever beheld this paradise?" Then turning to 
the other Christian captives: "I will teach you," 
he said, "what Heaven is, and what hell is. 
Heaven means to be full of riches and honors in 
this life ; but to lead a poor, miserable suffering 
life as you do at the present moment, that is 
hell." Having delivered this speech worthy of 
Epicurus himself, he closed the sitting and or- 
dered the venerable servant of God to be led 
back to prison. 

Ten days later he was taken before a magis- 
trate of the highest rank in the same town, who 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 93 

treated him with tolerable moderation, asking 
him only how long he had been in China, a 
question which Father Perboyre contrived to an- 
swer without in any way compromising the inter- 
ests of religion. 

A month had passed in the midst of these in- 
terrogatories which only served to add fresh 
lustre to the heroic patience of this servant of 
God, when it was judged advisable to remove 
him to Wu-Chan-Foo, the capital of the prov- 
ince of Hu-Peh, there to receive his final sen- 
tence. 



94 Life of the Blessed 



CHAPTER VIII. 

HIS SUFFERINGS AT WU-CHAX-FOO. 

He is taken to Wu-Chan-Foo — He is cast into a horrible 
prison —He is examined twice before the criminal tribunal 
— He then appears before the President of the civil tribunal 
— His unworthy treatment at the hands of some apostate 
Christians — His prayer in the prison — Cruelty of the Vice- 
roy of Wu-Chan-Foo — He subjects the servant of God to the 
most fearful tortures, all of which he endures with an heroic 
patience — After a month's interval fresh examinations and 
fresh sufferings — Touching proof of affection for the cru- 
cifix — He refuses to adore an idol — Derisive scene of which 
he is made the object — His unalterable patience amidst so 
much suffering makes them accuse him of magic— Last 
interrogatory, during which the Viceroy exhausts all his fury 
— State to which the generous confessor is reduced, when he 
is finally carried back to prison. 

The journey from Siang-Yang-Foo, to Wu- 
Chan-Foo was a long and painful one for 
Father Perboyre and his fellow captives, who, 
thanks to the example and the exhortations of 
the servant of God, had bravely persevered in 
their confession of faith. He whose only privi- 
lege consisted in a larger share of ill-treatment 
than fell to the lot of the others, distinguished 
himself from them by a more unalterable con- 
stancy and a more heroic patience. He was 
thrown into a boat, his neck, hands, and feet 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 95 

loaded with chains and his arms fastened per- 
pendicularly to an iron bar which hung from a 
collar of the same metal and impeded every 
movement. He was spared neither insult nor 
cruelty so long as the voyage lasted, and yet 
these sufferings might be described as light, in 
comparison with what was awaiting him at the 
end. 

. On arriving at Wu-Chan-Foo the prisoners 
were presented to an inferior mandarin, who 
took down their names, and they were then led 
away to the fearful prison destined for the 
greatest criminals. 

It would be difficult to conceive all that the 
servant of God endured in this horrible abode, 
which seemed to combine in itself everything 
that could make a prison intolerable, and wear 
out the most heroic patience. The insatiable 
cupidity of the jailors caused them to torture the 
prisoners with every refinement of barbarity in 
the hopes of extracting money from them, or of 
forcing their relations and friends to satisfy their 
avarice. The food was insufficient and the air 
impregnated with fetid vapors. As the prison- 
ers were never allowed to go out, even for a 
moment, upon any pretence whatever, the state 
of the prison may be more easily imagined than 
described. From the accumulation of filth 



96 Life of the Blessed 

which filled the place sprang a host of loath- 
some insects and filthy vermin which devoured 
the unprotected prisoners alive. At night, in 
order to prevent any attempt at escape, they 
were fastened by one foot to a species of 
wooden stocks, fixed into the wall. This inhu- 
man measure added enormously to the rigors of 
their captivity. Not only was the circulation 
impeded in the limb thus numbed and kept abso- 
lutely immovable, but the poor sufferer, de- 
prived of liberty of motion, was condemned to 
the most extreme discomfort. The consequence 
of this treatment resulted in the mortification of 
a part of Father Perboyre's foot, one of his toes 
withering completely away. The unutterable 
patience with which he accepted this suffering 
in addition to the rest, excited the admiration of 
his jailors, who became so much attached to 
him that they proposed to dispense with it as far 
as he was concerned. But finding that this ex- 
ception was a cause of murmuring and misun- 
derstanding on the part of his fellow prisoners, 
the venerable servant of God begged to be 
treated in the same way as the others, and re- 
suming his fetters he bore them joyfully to the 
day of his death, that is to say, for the eight or 
nine months he spent in this species of hell. 
But most painful of all to the servant of God 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 97 

was the society of the miserable wretches 
amongst whom he was thrown, and who, fa- 
miliar as they were with every kind of crime, 
put no restraint either upon their words or their 
actions, opening their mouths only to vomit 
forth the most obscene language interspersed 
with curses and blasphemies. To his pure 
mind this suffering was more intolerable than 
all the tortures inflicted on his body. 

He never left this horrible abode except to 
appear before his judges, who, in Wu-Chan-Foo 
alone, interrogated him more than twenty sep- 
arate times. He was brought first of all before 
the Criminal Court. After various questions 
similar to those which had been already put to 
him, and to which he again returned the same 
answers, he was ordered by the mandarin to 
renounce his faith. On his energetic refusal 
he was forced to kneel for the space of many 
hours, his bare knees resting upon iron chains 
and pieces of broken potsherd. Whilst he was 
in this position there chanced to pass by another 
confessor of the faith, Stanislas Tem-Ting-Fou, 
who, as he was being led before the same tri- 
bunal, entreated absolution of him. Father Per- 
boyre instantly gave him absolution, making the 
sign of the cross over him in the presence of 
the whole assembly, thus fulfilling his office as 



98 Life of the Blessed 

a merciful judge in presence of the iniquitous 
magistrates who were treating him with so much 
barbarity. Three days later Stanislas died in 
prison of his sufferings endured for the love of 
Christ. This was not the only opportunity 
vouchsafed to the servant of God of exercising 
in similar circumstances his sacred ministry of 
peace and reconciliation. 

A short time after this first examination he 
was forced to appear a second time before the 
same mandarin, who again insisted upon know- 
ing his motives for coming to China, and treated 
as folly the answers full of divine wisdom he 
received. He was then taken before the presi- 
dent of the Civil Court, who questioned him in 
like manner, thus giving the servant of God a 
fresh opportunity of confessing his faith, which 
he did with perfect firmness, refusing to betray 
the priests and faithful, whose names and dwell- 
ings they strove to make him disclose. He was 
then again made to kneel upon iron chains 
and his arms lifted up and fastened to a heavy 
piece of wood, which he was thus compelled to 
hold aloft from 9 o'clock in the morning until 
the evening. The satellites of the judge stood 
around with orders to beat him every time that 
his arms failed, or that he suffered the piece of 
wood to fall. Even this fresh torture, lengthy 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 99 

and horrible as it was, failed to conquer the 
courageous confessor, who bore it with the same 
persistent patience and equanimity that he had 
shown all along. 

The same mandarin took occasion of another 
examination to reproach him with having de- 
ceived the people by his tricks and with having 
brought upon the Christians, who were at that 
moment before the tribunal, all the evils which 
they were enduring. Then turning to them, 
with pretended compassion, he ordered them to 
renounce the deceptions of which they had been 
made the victims, and to punish him who had 
led them into error by tearing out his hair and 
spitting upon his face. Many of the Christians 
refused to lend themselves to these infamous 
suggestions, and made a courageous confession 
of their faith. But the remainder to the num- 
ber of five were base enough to apostatize, and 
to obey the orders of the tyrant. Even this 
outrage, which he felt the more keenly that it 
was inflicted by his own brethren and children 
in the faith, was nevertheless borne by the 
servant of God with equal patience and sweet- 
ness, reproaching no one, and not allowing a 
word of complaint to escape his lips. 

On returning to his prison he never failed to 
pour out his thanks to God for all the graces 



ioo Life of the Blessed 

He had bestowed upon him, entreating Him to 
pardon his executioners, and to give him 
strength to continue to the end. Prayer was to 
him what a sweet and refreshing dew is to a 
drooping flower; and from it he ever drew fresh 
strength to sustain the renewed combats to 
which he was exposed. 

This supernatural strength was to stand him 
in good stead at the tribunal of the Viceroy, 
before whom he had not as yet appeared, but 
who was about to put his patience to a very 
rude test and so prepare for him a glorious oc- 
casion of triumph. This man was famous 
throughout the empire for his ferocious cruelty. 
At the sight of the criminals, that were brought 
up before him, he would burst into a fit of anger 
and treat them with a barbarity that was almost 
incredible. Blinded at times by fury, he would 
forget both his rank and his dignity, and spring- 
ing from his seat he would throw himself upon 
the prisoners, and with his own hands tear out 
their eyes. But when he had to deal with 
Christians his fury knew no restraint, he hated 
them with a fiendish hatred, and had sworn to 
extirpate their sect from the whole of the 
province. 

The servant of God was, therefore, brought 
up before this brutal man, and in reply to his 



John Gabriel Perboyre. ioi 

questions acknowledged himself to be a priest 
of the Christian religion and confessed his faith 
anew with a firm and calm dignity. The Vice- 
roy then caused a beautifully painted picture of 
the Blessed Virgin to be brought, one that had 
been taken from the missionaries at the time 
their house was plundered, and accused the 
servant of God of having manufactured the 
colors which were used for painting the picture, 
from the eyes of sick people which he had torn 
out for this purpose. When he replied that he 
had never been guilty of such a crime he 
ordered him, by way of punishment, to be hung 
up by the hair for the space of some hours. 

It would be impossible to describe the refine- 
ments of cruelty invented by this monster in the 
hope of exhausting the patience of the holy 
missionary and forcing him to deny his faith 
and denounce the other priests and Christians of 
his acquaintance. On one occasion he was 
suspended by his hands to a kind of cross from 
which he was left hanging from nine o'clock in 
the morning until evening. At another time 
they bound him to a huge machine which lifted 
him up into the air by means of cords and pul- 
leys, only to let him fall again with his whole 
weight upon the ground, so that his entire frame 
was, as it were, shattered, and his bones dis- 



102 Life of the Blessed 

located. Again they would force him to kneel 
upon iron chains, and whilst in this position, 
hanging by his hair from a beam, his arms ex- 
tended and forcibly held in the form of a cross 
by means of a rope fastened to a piece of wood, 
they would balance a beam across his legs with 
a man standing on either extremity, thus caus- 
ing the sufferer the most intense agony. 

In order to vary the torture they sometimes 
placed him upon a seat so high that his feet were 
unable to touch the ground, fastening him down 
with ropes passed tightly round his thighs, and 
then hanging enormous weights from his feet 
which occasioned the most intolerable pain in 
his knees. At other times, on the contrary, the 
seat was placed so that his feet rested on the 
ground but then they would force huge stones 
under the soles of his feet, so that the pain was 
scarcely less severe. On another occasion they 
branded the words Sie-Kiao-Ho-Tchonn, sig- 
nifying fr'ofiagator of an abominable sect, with 
a red-hot iron on his forehead. 

The servant of God was so weakened at the 
close of each of these painful interrogatories that 
he could neither walk nor stand, and they were 
obliged to make use of a hand-barrow to convey 
him back to prison. But throughout all his suf- 
ferings he lost nothing of his calmness or se- 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 103 

renity. Not only was he never heard to utter a 
complaint nor a cry of pain but the supernatural 
joy with which his heart was filled seemed to 
shine forth from his countenance. 

Seeing the state of exhaustion to which his 
victim was reduced, the Viceroy determined to 
allow him a month's respite, to give him an oppor- 
tunity of recruiting his strength so that he might 
wreak his insatiable rage still further upon him. 

At the expiration of this period the servant of 
God reappeared before his persecutor, who de- 
manded of him by what route he had penetrated 
into the interior of China, at what houses he had 
stayed, and who the people were who had 
favored his entry. Failing to extract a single 
word from the prudent and charitable mis- 
sionary, he ordered him to recive fifteen blows 
on the face with a thick leathern ferule. Then 
he inquired of him what the mysterious bever- 
age was which he administered to the Chris- 
tians in order to make them insensible to all 
tortures, for many of them, so far, had re- 
mained true to their faith. When the servant of 
God replied simply that he had given them no 
beverage whatever, he was rewarded with ten 
more blows of the same ferule. 

Upon asking whether a woman named Anna 
Kao was not employed in his service, and on 



104 Life of the Blessed 

receiving a reply in the negative, he made him 
kneel upon iron chains, with his hands fastened 
up to a beam, while one of his satellites drag- 
ged him up and down by the hair. 

After an hour of this torture he showed him 
the case of holy oils, and inquired: " Is not 
this the beverage with which you bewitch the 
Christians, and prevent their renouncing their 
religion?" "That is not a beverage," replied 
the confessor, whereupon he received forty 
blows with a bamboo upon his thighs. 

Several times in the course of the examina- 
tion the Viceroy summoned him to declare the 
names and dwellings of the priests, Christians 
and catechists, but he invariably observed a 
profound silence. They struck him on the 
face, and heaped outrages upon him to force 
him to speak; they put him to the torture, and 
cruelly scourged him, but nothing could make 
him open his mouth. A mandarin, however, 
having asked him whether he was a Christian, 
he answered at once, saying, hi Yes, I am a 
Christian, and I glory in it." The mandarin 
then brought a crucifix and placed it before 
him, saying "If you will only trample upon 
this I will give you your liberty." At this impious 
proposition the confessor cried out with his eyes 
full of tears: "Ah! how could I commit this 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 105 

outrage against my God, my Creator and my 
Saviour?" And painfully stooping down, for 
his body was all bruised and torn, he seized 
the sacred image, and letting his tears fall upon 
it he pressed it to his heart and to his lips, cov- 
ering it with tender and loving kisses. On see- 
ing this, one of the attendants, seized with a 
sudden inspiration from hell, darted forward and 
snatching the sacred image of the Saviour out- 
raged it in the vilest manner. Heart-broken 
at this horrible profanation, the chaste mis- 
sionary gave vent to a cry of anguish, thus 
showing that he was more sensitive to an injury 
offered to his God than to his own sufferings. 
A hundred and ten blows with the fant-se * were 
the reward of this admirable profession of faith. 
Another mandarin, desirous of showing him 
some compassion, urged him quietly just to 
tread upon some crosses that had been painted 
upon the floor, promising to save him if he 
would consent. " I can not do it," the servant 
of God replied firmly but simply. When the 
attendants seized him in accordance with their 
orders to force him to tread upon the crosses, 



*The pant-se is an instrument of torture used in China, 
and consisting of a long thick bamboo. The sufferer is 
laid on the face on the ground and beaten about the loins 
with this stick. 



io6 Life of the Blessed 

he cried with a loud voice, " I am a Christian, and 
it is not I, but you who are profaning this sign 
of our redemption." The impious judge then 
sent for an idol, and promised the confessor his 
liberty if he would but adore it. He replied 
firmly, " You may cut off my head if you will, 
but I will never consent to adore an idol." 

Mockery was next to be added by the man- 
darin to the cruelty and impiety he had already 
shown. Sending for the sacred vestments that 
had been taken from the missionaries when 
their house was pillaged, he commanded Father 
Perboyre to put them on. He was silent for a 
moment and seemed to be inwardly reflecting; 
then looking the mandarin calmly in the face he 
said that he would obey him. He had been 
thinking, doubtless, of the scene of mockery to 
which our Lord had willingly exposed Himself 
at the court of Herod and again in the Pretor- 
ium before Pilate, and he counted himself 
happy in being able to drink after Him of the 
same chalice of humiliation. Scarcely was he 
arrayed in the priestly vestments than a great 
clamor arose throughout the assembly. "It is 
the God Fo, the God Fo himself in person!" 
shouted judges and attendants with one voice. 

When he had heaped sufficient insults upon 
the servant of God, the mandarin, returning to 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 107 

the holy oils, and to the calumnies already so 
often reiterated with regard to them, attempted 
to force the missionary to own himself guilty of 
the crimes imputed to him. On his refusal he 
received forty blows with a bamboo. Worn out 
by this cruel treatment, he lay with closed eyes 
unable either to stand or kneel, till the attend- 
ants, seizing him by the hair, lifted him up 
bodily, only to let him fall again as before, then 
forcing his eyes open they obliged him to look 
at the Viceroy, who again asked him how 
many people's eyes he had torn out. He an- 
swered that he had never committed such a 
crime, whereupon ten blows were administered, 
which he bore with the same wonderful patience 
as before. The Viceroy, astounded, and inca- 
pable of understanding how any man w r ould en- 
dure such sufferings with such perfect calmness, 
began to suspect that he had some secret which 
rendered him insensible to pain. Ten more 
blows failing to disturb the sufferer's equanim- 
ity, he questioned him further, and receiving 
no reply, whether because the servant of God 
was unable to speak or because he considered 
it useless to refute the same charges over and 
over again, he ordered his satellites to deal him 
fifteen more blows. His victim still kept si- 
lence. "What?" he cried, "I have had you 



108 Life of the Blessed 

beaten, and still you do not answer?" This 
heroic silence confirmed him in the suspicion 
that the missionary wore about him some charm 
to render him proof against all pain, and in 
order to discover it he caused him to be stripped 
of his garments. A bandage, which, in conse- 
quence of some infirmity, the servant of God 
had been obliged to wear for some years, ap- 
peared to the tyrant to be the magic talisman 
he was in search of. Accordingly, despite the 
protestations of the servant of God and the evi- 
dences of his infirmity, he ruthlessly ordered 
the appliance to be torn off, and then to destroy 
the pretended charm he made use of a specific 
much in vogue amongst other Chinese super- 
stitions; he had a dog killed, and having 
smeared the still reeking blood over the con- 
fessor's head, forced him to drink the remain- 
der. Finally, as though to append his signa- 
ture to this array of cruelties, he caused his 
mandarin's seal to be imprinted on the legs of 
the sufferer. 

After this long and terrible interrogatory, the 
servant of God, who seemed to have scarcely a 
spark of life left, was carried back to prison. 
On the morrow, however, he was again brought 
before the tribunal, there to suffer still more. 
Furious at having been baffled by him on the 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 109 

preceding day, the Viceroy put the same ques- 
tions to him as before, declaring that he would 
soon find a way to make him acknowledge all 
his crimes. The servant of God replied that 
he had nothing to add to what he had already 
said. At a sign from the mandarin he was in- 
stantly stripped, laid upon the ground, and ten 
blows dealt him with a stick upon the back. 
Again the mandarin repeated his calumnies, 
adding a host of insidious questions which re- 
mained, as before, unanswered. Ten more 
blows were then given to him with the remark 
that he was mistaken if he hoped to die speedily, 
they would go on torturing him every day, and 
death should only come when every other tor- 
ment had been exhausted. With that the man- 
darin ordered him to be extended on the rack, 
where he remained for an hour, whilst the exe- 
cutioners applied fresh tortures. At the end of 
that time they laid him almost dead at the feet 
of the Viceroy, who demanded of him ironically 
whether he felt well, and his satellites forced his 
eyes open to make him look at his persecutor. 
Still the tyrant was not satisfied. He was 
determined at all costs to vanquish the constancy 
of the martyr, and urged him again to answer 
his questions satisfactorily, and own himself 
guilty of the crimes laid to his charge. He 



no Life of the Blessed 

could extort no answer. Exasperated by this 
silence, they literally rained blows upon the 
saintly missionary, whose heroic firmness, how- 
ever, still remained proof against both the rod 
and the lash. Beside himself with rage at the 
sight of such invincible constancy the Viceroy 
sprang from his seat, and fearing lest the execu- 
tioners were too gentle in their treatment, he 
took the murderous lash into his own hands, 
and, rushing upon his victim, discharged upon 
him a shower of blows with such savage violence 
that the spectators thought death must inevitably 
follow, and that quickly. This deed of ferocity 
revolted even the pagans themselves, and both 
the mandarins and their satellites alike protested 
against such cruelty, inflicted upon a man un- 
convicted of any crime, and whose patience and 
sweetness they could not choose but admire. 

The holy confessor, who on that day alone, 
according to the evidence of the attendants, had 
received more than two hundred blows, was 
carried back to prison. The jailors, on seeing 
the state in which he was, were moved with 
compassion and hastened to take off his clothes 
and wash them of the blood that had soaked 
them through, lest they should adhere to the 
torn flesh beneath. The catechist, Andrew 
Fong, who saw him in the prison whilst his 



John Gabriel Perboyre. hi 

garments were being taken off, avers that his 
face was swollen to a prodigious size, his flesh 
so bruised and lacerated with blows that it was 
literally hanging about him in shreds, and that 
large pieces had been torn off; in fine, his whole 
body was one vast wound, and like our blessed 
Saviour in His passion, it might be said of him 
that he wore no longer the semblance of a man. 
But within this crushed and mangled body the 
saintly soul of the confessor was upheld by a 
divine fortitude, enabling him to bear his suffer- 
ings with a marvelous serenity; and the ex- 
pression that lit up his bruised and bleeding 
features proved sufficiently how happy he es- 
teemed himself to have been judged worthy to 
suffer something for the name of Jesus. When 
the catechist Fong returned to the prison he 
found the servant of God on his knees in prayer. 



ii2 Life of the Blessed 



CHAPTER IX. 

DEATH OF THE VENERABLE SERVANT OF GOD. 

(iith September, 1840.) 

He energetically resists the last efforts made by the Vice- 
roy to induce him to apostatize — He remains in prison eight 
months, awaiting the ratification of his sentence of death by 
the Emperor — He is able to go to Confession, and to send 
news of himself to his Brethren — Alleviations granted to 
him in his sufferings — He is unable to receive Holy Com- 
munion — The admiration of his fellow prisoners for him — 
He rejoices in his sufferings — -The imperial ratification ar- 
rives, and he is instantly led out to execution — His last mo- 
ments, his glorious martyrdom — His body becomes an object 
of astonishment and admiration — Device resorted to in order 
to obtain possession of his relics, and render them the last 
honors — He is buried near the Venerable Father Clet. 

It was now the middle of January, 1840, and 
his judges, fairly conquered by the invincible 
patience of the venerable confessor, determined 
to put an end to a struggle, the result of which 
was so little to their credit. The Viceroy, how- 
ever, before pronouncing sentence upon him, 
made one more attempt to force him to aposta- 
tize, together with the other Christians, who, 
like him, had generously persevered in their 
faith. One of their number gives the following 
account of what passed: 

" On being brought before his tribunal the 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 113 

Viceroy spoke to us as follows : ' Your sentence 
is about to be pronounced. You, Tong-Ouen- 
Sio (the Chinese name of Father Perboyre) 
shall be strangled, and you others who have 
never ceased disobeying the orders of your 
superiors, and who will not renounce your 
errors, shall be banished. I will, however, 
make one more attempt to save you. Deny 
your faith and you shall be instantly set free — if 
not, you shall receive the punishment you 
deserve.' The venerable servant of God an- 
swered first, and said, ' I will sooner die than 
renounce my faith,' and we all replied in like 
manner. The Viceroy enraged at our con- 
stancy went on: ' What? you refuse to renounce 
your errors? Well then, sign your own con- 
demnation, and with your own hand make the 
sign of the cross upon this sheet of paper.' The 
servant of God at once took the Chinese pencil 
presented to him, and traced a cross upon the 
paper. We then did the same." 

As a sentence of death would not be carried 
into execution without being first ratified by the 
Emperor, Father Perboyre was obliged to await 
in prison another eight months, the formal 
orders from Pekin. It is difficult to understand 
how he ever survived so many sufferings, his 
body being lacerated, his flesh hanging in 



ii4 Life of the Blessed 

pieces, his bones exposed to view, and immured 
in a loathsome den, where, unable to sit or 
stand, he was compelled for the most part to lie 
upon the ground. 

The strict watch, however, that had been 
hitherto kept over him to prevent any communi- 
cation without, was now somewhat relaxed, and 
a few Christians were able to make their way 
to him. Father Perboyre took advantage of 
this to beg that a priest might be brought to ad- 
minister to him the consolations of religion. 
His request was granted, and one of his 
Chinese brethren succeeded in penetrating into 
his prison. But what a spectacle met his eyes 
on entering. At the sight of the generous con- 
fessor stretched out half-dead upon the ground, 
his mangled frame covered with livid wounds, 
he burst into tears, and it was with difficulty 
that he succeeded in mastering his emotion so 
far as to utter a few words. 

The servant of God took advantage of this 
short interview to go to confession, and to send 
news of himself to his brethren in a little letter 
written in Latin, and stained with the blood 
that flowed from his wounded hands. This is 
what he wrote : 

"The circumstances of time and place pre- 
vent me from giving you many details of my 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 115 

position, besides you will hear of me from 
other sources. After I had arrived at Kou- 
Tchen-Kieng I was treated with tolerable hu- 
manity as long as I stayed there, though I was 
made to undergo two examinations, during one 
of which I was forced to kneel for half a day 
upon iron chains, and hung up to the hant-se* 
At Wu-Chan-Foo I was interrogated no less than 
twenty times, and I suffered various tortures on 
nearly every occasion, because I would not tell 
what the mandarins wanted to know.t If I had 
told them, a general persecution would have 
broken out throughout the Empire. However, 
what I suffered at Siang-Yang-Fou was imme- 
diately for the cause of religion. At Wu-Chan- 
Foo I received a hundred and ten blows of the 
-pant-se, because I refused to trample on the 
cross. Later on you will know more details. 
Of about twenty Christians who were taken up 
and tried at the same time as myself, two-thirds 
publicly apostatized." 

From that time forth the confessor of the faith 



*This is the name of a machine, placed above the head of 
the sufferer, and to which his two thumbs are fastened, to- 
gether with his hair. Thus suspended, with his bare knees 
resting upon iron chains, it is impossible to make the small- 
est movement without horrible pain. 

fThe mandarins wanted to know the names and abodes of 
the missionaries, catechists and Christians. 



n6 Life of the Blessed 

was frequently visited by the Christians, and 
more especially by the catechist Andrew Fong, 
who was able to render him numberless ser- 
vices. He was even tended with much pains 
and care by a pagan doctor, who, touched by 
his patience and sweetness, took a great interest 
in him. He was also allowed clothes, a mat- 
tress and a rug, all of which helped to alleviate 
the hardships of his imprisonment. 

There was, however, a food for which he 
sighed with all the greater ardor that for many 
months it had been denied him, the Holy 
Eucharist. But it was impossible to convey this 
Heavenly Bread to him without serious risk of 
profanation, for fearing lest he might take 
poison privately, and thus escape the death 
they were preparing for him, his jailors had 
orders to taste everything that was brought to 
him. He was obliged, therefore, to deny him- 
self this consolation, a privation not the least 
acute of the many entailed on him by his cap- 
tivity. 

The charm which the holy servant of God 
exercised over all who came in contact with him 
extended itself to his fellow prisoners. These 
men, taken as they were from among the lowest 
criminals, with hearts hardened by every kind 
of crime, were unable to remain day after day 




THE MARTYRDOM— SEPTEMBER llTH 1840. 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 117 

witnesses of his saintly life, and in especial of 
his perfect modesty, without being struck with 
admiration at the sight of so much goodness. 
Feelings of esteem and respect forced them- 
selves into their hearts, perhaps for the first 
time in all their lives, and they compassionated 
him aloud, fearlessly declaring that he deserved 
better things, 

As for himself, far from considering his situ- 
ation as one worthy of pity, he could not rejoice 
sufficiently over his own happiness ; the suffer- 
ings which filled both his nights and days had 
a sacred charm for him, for he knew they in- 
creased his likeness to his divine Model. The 
only thing now left him to wish for was, as the 
great apostle says, to see those bonds released 
which held him back from the sole object of his 
affections, destderium habens dhsolvi et esse 
cum Christo. (Phil. i. 23.) 

The moment was now approaching when this 
wish was to be realized. On the nth Septem- 
ber, 1840, an imperial courier arrived bearing 
with him an edict sanctioning the sentence of 
death which had been passed and which, ac- 
cording to the custom established in China, was 
to be put into execution immediately. At once, 
therefore, and without waiting to publish the 
decree, the servant of God was brought forth 



n8 Life of the Blessed 

from his prison. It was on a Friday, and by a 
dispensation of Providence, as though to signal- 
ize yet more closely his resemblance to his 
Divine Master, in order to add to the ignominy 
of his death, he was led to execution along with 
five other criminals : Et cum sceleratis reputa- 
tus est. (Is. liii., 12.) For some unknown 
reason the sentence was never made public, so 
that the Christians, ignorant of what was going 
on, were unable to assist at the execution. 
There was only one who by chance happened 
to encounter the cortege on its way, and to him 
we owe the following details.. 

The venerable servant of God walked bare- 
foot clad in nothing but a pair of drawers and 
the red robe worn by those who were con- 
demned to death. His hands were tied behind 
his back, and made to hold a long stick, from 
the top of which hung a banner with the sen- 
tence of death written upon it: et imposuerunt 
super caput ejus causam ipsius scriptam. (Matt. 
xxvii., 37.) But the most extraordinary thing 
was that he seemed suddenly to have recovered 
all his strength, his wounds were no longer visi- 
ble, and his flesh had become like that of a little 
child. His face, resplendent with beauty and a 
supernatural radiance, displayed a holy joy, and 
his lips murmured prayers as he went along. 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 119 

It is the custom in China to hurry off pris- 
oners to execution at a run. Each of the con- 
demned is accompanied by two attendants, who 
drag rather than lead him. This hurried march, 
joined to the clanging of cymbals, imparts a 
character of terror to an execution which strikes 
awe into the Chinese mind. In this manner the 
holy confessor arrived at the spot where he was 
to consummate his sacrifice. The Pagans, 
warned of the event by the sound of the cym- 
bals, rushed in crowds to the place, but know- 
ing the patience and sweetness which the ser- 
vant of God had exercised in the midst of his 
torments and in his horrible prison, they mur- 
mured at the death of one whose goodness, they 
said, rendered him equal to the gods. 

Meantime, whilst awaiting the moment of ex- 
ecution, he knelt upon the ground in prayer. 
The very Pagans were touched at the sight of 
his calm and devout attitude, and the Christian, 
who was present and who had to put his hands 
before his face to conceal his tears, heard them 
saying: " Look at that European; he is kneel- 
ing down and praying!" 

At last, when the five criminals who had ac- 
companied him had been beheaded, it came to 
the turn of the servant of God. But his death 
was to be a longer and more painful one. The 



120 Life of the Blessed 

executioner began by stripping off the red gar- 
ment they had put upon him, leaving only his 
drawers, and then bound him to a gibbet in the 
form of a cross. His two hands, dragged round 
behind him, w r ere fastened to the transverse 
piece, and his knees bent so that he had the 
appearance of a man kneeling, five or six inches 
off the ground. The executioner then put the 
cord round his neck, the ends being fastened 
to a stick to enable him to give the fatal twist. 
But, the better to make his victim feel all the 
horrors of death, he pretended to twist the 
cord twice before finally giving the decisive 
wrench the third time. One of the attendants 
seeing that life still lingered gave the finish- 
ing blow by a fierce kick in the lower part of 
the body. This circumstance involuntarily re- 
minds one of the centurion's lance that opened 
the side of our Lord, and adds one more to 
the many striking traits of resemblance be- 
tween the Passion of the Master and that of 
His faithful disciple. Like Jesus Christ, Fa- 
ther Perboyre was betrayed by one of his own 
friends, dragged from one tribunal to another, 
and subjected to every sort of injury and in- 
sult, without a murmur or a word of com- 
plaint, and like Him, too, he was condemned to 
death unjustly, led to execution together with 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 121 

notorious evil-doers, treated even more cruelly 
than they, and finally, on a Friday, fastened to 
a cross, whence he gave up his beautiful soul to 
God. Ah, holy martyr! can we doubt it? here 
below, in the midst of sufferings, thou didst 
gloriously confess Christ Jesus, thou didst share 
his life of suffering and humiliation and shed 
thy blood for His love; in Heaven thou shalt 
share His eternal triumph : si comfatimur ut et 
conglorijicemur ! (Rom. viii., 17.) 

This conviction was already rooted in the 
minds of all who had known him during life, 
witnessed his constancy in the midst of so 
many torments, and who now saw the extra- 
ordinary signs by which it pleased God to 
glorify his servant. As soon as he had breathed 
his last, his body became an object of wonder 
and admiration. Far from presenting the aspect 
of horror common to the bodies of those who 
have suffered death from strangulation, it shone 
with a surpassing beauty, far exceeding any- 
thing it had ever worn in life. His face was 
not livid but fair and fresh-colored, and his 
eyes, instead of starting from their sockets, 
were modestly cast down. His tongue did not 
protrude from his mouth, but the lips were 
closed and seemed to smile. In fine, his mem- 
bers bore no longer any trace of the cruel treat- 



122 Life of the Blessed 

ment they had undergone, while a resplendent 
halo shone round his head, the lustre of which 
was seen and testified to by many eye-witnesses. 
A Pagan was so struck by these marvelous 
manifestations that he at once became a convert 
to Christianity. 

These prodigies were the more easily con- 
firmed owing to an order from the Viceroy 
directing that the holy bodies should be left ex- 
posed upon the gibbet until the following day. 
The Christians took advantage of this interval 
to purchase from the attendants the garments of 
the martyr, and above all, his sacred remains. 
In order to secure the latter, and at the same 
time to avoid the risk of compromising any one, 
it was necessary to have recourse to an ex- 
pedient, to which those who were charged with 
the burial were bribed to consent. Laden with 
the precious burden of whose real value they 
recked so little, they contrived to go by an un- 
frequented by-path to the place of burial and 
stopped on the way at a house that had been 
pointed out to them. There they found a coffin 
filled with earth, which they carried off, leaving 
in exchange the one containing the remains of 
the venerable servant of God. The Christians 
hastened to wash respectfully and lovingly those 
members that had suffered so much for Jesus 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 123 

Christ, and clothed them in rich and precious 
vestments which they had spent all the previous 
night in preparing. 

Having rendered the last sacred rites to the 
sainted body, they buried it upon the slope of 
the Red Mountain, beside the brother in arms 
who had preceded him twenty years before, in 
the glorious career of martyrdom. It will be 
remembered how Father Perboyre on first pass- 
ing by Woo-chan-Fooon his way to Hankow had 
desired to visit this tomb. But Providence had 
interposed and had rendered his design impossi- 
ble of execution, preferring to wait until after 
death to unite the souls of the two martyrs in 
Heaven, and their two bodies on earth in the 
same tomb. It was thus that death brought to- 
gether these two venerable servants of God — 
Jean Francois Regis Clet and John Gabriel 
Perboyre — between whom in life there had 
been such a marked resemblance, and whose 
virtues had rendered them so pleasing to God, 
to His Angels and to men: Amabiles in vita 
sua in morte quoquenon sunt divisi. (II Reg., 
1-23.) 

A pilgrim who, a year afterwards, had the 
happiness of praying beside this tomb wrote as 
follows: " There is no sculptured marble to be 
seen over the earth that covers the bones of 



124 Life of the Blessed 

these two glorious sons of St. Vincent of Paul, but 
God seems to have taken upon Himself the care 
of their sepulchre. There are thorny trailing 
plants, somewhat similar to our European 
Acacia, growing over their tombs. From out 
of this mass of verdure rises a profusion of mi- 
mosas of surpassing beauty and freshness. On 
seeing these brilliant blossoms springing from a 
thick undergrowth of thorns one is led involun- 
tarily to reflect on the glory which in Heaven is 
to crown the sufferings of the martyrs." 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 125 



CHAPTER X. 

THE VENERATION PAID TO FATHER PERBOYRE AND THE 

WONDERFUL EVENTS WHICH SANCTIONED IT 

AFTER HIS DEATH. 

(1840-1885.) 

The veneration which Father Perbojre inspired during 
life, and which after his death became a real cultus — Ap- 
pearance of a luminous cross — The servant of God appears 
in person to a Pagan, who is converted — Wonderful cure of 
Sister Antoinette Vincent at Constantinople — Another, and 
no less remarkable cure in the case of Sister Marguerite 
Bouyssie at the Mother-House of the Sisters of Charity in 
Paris — Punishment which the justice of God causes to fall 
on the persecutors of Father Perboyre — Translation of his 
precious remains to the Mother-House of the Congregation 
of the Mission in Paris — Hopes entertained of his approach- 
ing beatification. 

Already during his lifetime and before suffer- 
ing for the cause of Christ, Father Perboyre had 
inspired all those with whom he came in contact 
with a real veneration. Father Rizzolati, the 
Capuchin missionary who had been at Tcha- 
Yuen-Keou when the persecution broke out, 
and who became later on Vicar Apostolic of 
Hoo-Quang, was often heard to remark that 
" even if Father Perboyre had not earned the 
martyr's palm, his heroic virtues would have 
entitled him to a place upon our altars." 



126 Life of the Blessed 

But after he had so courageously confessed 
his faith, and when his combats had been 
crowned by a death so precious in the eyes of 
the Lord, this veneration was changed into a 
kind of worship, God himself seeming to sanc- 
tion it by a series of extraordinary occurrences, 
in which, though it is not for us to characterize 
them, it is nevertheless difficult not to see the 
signs of a supernatural intervention. We must 
content ourselves with selecting a few from 
their number for mention in this place. 

First of all comes the apparition of a luminous 
cross which one of the Chinese missionaries 
describes as follows: "At the time of Father 
Perboyre's martyrdom a large luminous cross, 
very symmetrically shaped, appeared in the 
heavens. It was perceived by a great number of 
the faithful in different Christian settlements 
throughout the country, situated several of them 
at a great distance one from another. A great 
many Pagans also bore witness to this phe- 
nomenon, and several of them cried out on 
beholding it, ' That is the sign which the 
Christians adore. I renounce the worship of 
idols, I will serve the Lord of Heaven,' and 
they actually embraced Christianity and were 
baptized by Mgr. Clauzetto. When Mgr. Clau- 
zetto first heard of those events he was not dis- 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 127 

posed to attach much importance to them, but 
later on, impressed by the number and impor- 
tance of the testimonies received, he made a 
formal inquiry into the matter, and was enabled 
in consequence to state that a large, well-formed, 
luminous cross did appear in the sky; that it 
was seen at one and the same time, of a like 
shape and size and in the same spot in the 
heavens by a great number of witnesses both 
Christian and Pagan; that these witnesses in- 
habited districts at a considerable distance one 
from the other, and that it was impossible that 
there should have been communication between 
them. Mgr. Clauzetto further questioned those 
Christians who had known Father Perboyre 
personally, and they unanimously declared they 
had always looked upon him as a great saint." 
The servant of God himself appeared after 
death to several persons the truth of whose 
testimony is beyond all question . On one occasion 
he even appeared to a Pagan, by name Lieu- 
Kioun-Lin, the kind-hearted man who, it will 
be remembered, had had him carried in a litter, 
at his own expense, from the market of Quang- 
In-Tam, to the town of Kou-Tchen-Kieng. 
Lieu-Kioun-Lin having fallen grievously sick, 
some years after the death of the servant of 
God, was thought to be at death's door. His 



128 Life of the Blessed 

friends had given up all hope and he himself 
was a prey to the most distressing thoughts, 
when Father Perboyre appeared to him, stand- 
ing at the summit of a ladder of a red color. Be- 
side him was another ladder of white hue, and 
by this he invited the sick man to ascend to 
where he was, saying: "You are suffering 
down there, are you not? Well, come up this 
white ladder to where I am and you will be 
happy." The sick man tried to ascend the 
ladder, but was prevented by the devil under 
the form of a horrid monster. He then pro- 
nounced the holy Name of Jesus, the efficacy 
of which he had learned from the Christians, 
and the vision disappeared. Calling to mind all 
the circumstances of the apparition, as well as 
the repeated exhortations by which the servant 
of God had striven to open his eyes to the light, 
he declared in the presence of his family and 
to their no small surprise that he wished to 
become a Christian. He then sent for a cate- 
chist, who, finding him sufficiently instructed, 
administered baptism, and a few days after- 
ward he devoutly rendered up his regenerated 
soul to God. 

We may mention as another no less remarka- 
ble occurrence, a cure declared by several doc- 
tors to have been miraculous. 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 129 

There was in the house of the Sisters of 
Charity at Constantinople, a sister named An- 
toinette Vincent, who was employed in teaching 
the children. She was loved by all who knew her, 
as much for her unalterable sweetness and kind- 
ness, as for the devotedness she showed in the dis- 
charge of her duties, and there was universal re- 
gret when it was known that she had fallen ill. 

Her indisposition was already of long stand- 
ing. A sharp pain made itself felt in her side, 
leaving her every now and then, but only to 
return with fresh violence after a short interval. 
Nine years passed in this manner, until, in the 
month of December, 1841, the pain became so 
severe and so continuous that she was never 
free from it for a moment. Full of courage the 
Sister kept on her class for three weeks in the 
midst of the most intense suffering, until at last 
the disease prevailed and she was forced to take 
to her bed. Then, only, was the real nature of 
the malady discovered. An interior abscess, 
which had been in process of formation for 
some years past, had at last broken, and the 
gangrene which from that moment became in- 
evitable placed the sister in imminent danger of 
death. This was the opinion of the doctors as 
testified by the Superior. " Sister Antoinette' ' 
she wrote, " having been given up by several 



130 Life of the Blessed 

doctors, we called in others, who agreed in my 
presence that the abscess formed on the left 
side had ulcerated the spleen and had produced 
so much disorder in the region of the heart that 
it was impossible she could last many days 
longer. They refused even to put their names 
to the consultation, saying that it would only be 
signing a certificate of death. One of them 
had the truly Christian courage to warn the sick 
woman of her danger, and pointing to the cru- 
cifix said, ' There is One who, when science is 
powerless, can alone restore you to health.' : 
Sister Antoinette then received the last Sacra- 
ments, together with the indulgence for the 
hour of death, in the most beautiful dispositions, 
and they were expecting every moment to see 
her breathe her last. 

However, they had not waited for the doc- 
tor's verdict before having recourse to super- 
natural means, and already two novenas had 
been begun in honor of the venerable John 
Gabriel Perboyre, one by the Sisters of the 
Community, and the other by her school chil- 
dren. So much fervor did the children put 
into their prayers that they even deprived them- 
selves of the little dainties which are so much 
thought of at that age, to be able to buy candles 
for the novena. 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 131 

It was on Friday evening, 21st January, 1842, 
the fifth day of the Sisters' novena, and the 
third of the children's, and the patient seemed 
to be sinking. The death rattle was audible, 
her face was of a livid hue, and her body 
exhaled an almost corpse-like odor; in fact, 
everything seemed to announce that she had 
only a few hours to live, when suddenly she fell 
into a sweet and peaceful sleep which lasted 
three hours. It was. midnight when she 
awoke. Feeling herself relieved she sat up in 
bed and felt her side ; there was no longer any 
pain. She then tried to take some nourish- 
ment; soup, grapes and some quarters of orange 
were within reach. She tasted them and found 
them delicious. She felt sure that something 
extraordinary had happened to her, but fearing 
to be the dupe of her imagination she scarcely 
dared to believe in it herself, still less to speak 
of it to others; she had, besides, so accustomed 
herself to the thought of death, had accepted it 
so generously, so joyfully even, that she was 
half sorry to see her exile prolonged, and pre- 
ferred to believe herself the victim of an illu- 
sion. 

Those who were by her side scarcely ven- 
tured to believe in her cure either. "We could 
not help seeing," said the Superior, "that her 



132 Life of the Blessed 

breathing was relieved and her features had re- 
gained their natural appearance; the marks of 
gangrene were no longer visible and the un- 
pleasant odor had entirely disappeared. But 
we dared not trust to these consoling symptoms, 
knowing how frequently sick people seem to 
rally when really at the point of death." 

But doubt soon became no longer possible. 
When morning came she insisted on getting up, 
dressed herself alone, made her own bed, 
walked up the three flights of stairs to the 
Chapel, there thanked our Lord for all He had 
done for her, then went to visit one of the other 
Sisters who was sick. The Superior, the Sis- 
ters and the children were all in astonishment. 
The house doctor was no less surprised, but 
before giving an opinion on such an extraordi- 
nary event he wished to examine the patient. 
Having felt the affected parts he pronounced 
that actually only part of the spleen was left 
remaining, but that the wound had healed and 
that the cure was perfect, a fact which could 
only be attributed to a miracle. The other con- 
sulting physicians, among whom was a Jew, 
were all of the same opinion, one of them refus- 
ing to accept his fee, saying that it would be 
unjust to take payment for work that Almighty 
God had done himself. 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 133 

About the same time another Sister of Char- 
ity in Paris was cured in quite as remarkable a 
manner. Her name was Marguerite Bouyssie, 
and in 1841 was 21 years of age. Dr. J. Ra- 
theau, who attended the Mother-House, says of 
her, " Of naturally weak health and of a lym- 
phatic temperament, she had had several ill- 
nesses already, one especially serious one at 
the hospital, where she was going through her 
postulancy before becoming a Sister of Charity, 
and on the 2d of April she was seized with a 
severe attack of pleuro-pneumonia. In spite 
of soothing medicines and blood-lettings, both 
general and local, the disease gained ground so 
much that it became necessary to administer 
the last Sacraments. However, little by little 
the symptoms seemed to diminish, she became 
almost convalescent, and country air was rec- 
ommended for her, but without effect." At 
this period, that is to say, early in August, she 
left the hospital where she had been making 
her postulancy and went to the novitiate in the 
Mother-House, where Dr. Ratheau commenced 
attending her. 

"The diagnosis," he says, "was easy to 
make. We saw we had to do with a pleuro- 
pneumonia wrongly estimated, owing to con- 
gestion of the lungs, and to the presence of 



134 Life of the Blessed 

pus, which filled nearly three quarters of the 
pleural cavity on the left side, and that in a 
subject with a weak chest, and threatened with 
the formation of tubercles at the apex of the 
lungs, if not already developed there." 

However, he recommended all the means 
prescribed by the medical art; blisters on the 
side affected, soothing diuretics, and action on 
the skin by means of baths. But neither the 
internal nor external remedies could be sus- 
tained, and consequently no results followed. 
Day by day the patient grew weaker. It was 
at last suggested that she should seek the ben- 
efit of country air at a place situated some miles 
from Paris, and consent was given. She start- 
ed on the 10th August, but her state only grew 
more critical and the sickness increased. 

She was brought back to Paris four days 
later, as she wished to die in her convent. The 
symptoms continued until the 22d of August, 
when she expressed a desire to make a novena 
in order to obtain on her behalf the intercession 
of the new confessor of the faith martyred in 
China (Father John Gabriel Perboyre). 

Up to the 25th the pains went on increasing, 
and even on the morning of that day they 
reached a very high degree of intensity. She 
endeavored to get up to have her bed made, 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 135 

but could only remain up for a few minutes, 
suffocation appearing imminent. 

Immediately upon lying down she fell asleep, 
and at the same moment the skin became cov- 
ered with a cold perspiration. Suddenly, com- 
ing out of that state, she said: "I am cured. 
Give me something to eat, I am very hungry." 
It was then a quarter to twelve. The sisters 
thought she was delirious, but seeing her really 
improved, they brought her some soup, a cutlet, 
and a large piece of bread, and as that was not 
enough to satisfy her hunger they added three 
baked potatoes, all of which agreed with her 
perfectly. Immediately afterwards she rose, 
and having completely recovered her strength, 
was present at recreation with her companions, 
took supper with them, and had an excellent 
sleep afterwards. During the whole of the fol- 
lowing day, she was at work putting the linen 
out to dry, and all through the night she sat up 
with the sick. 

Wishing to make certain of the reality of this 
cure, Dr. Ratheau examined Sister Bouyssie 
more minutely a few days after, and again on 
the 4th October following, and was able to pro- 
nounce that all the organs which had been so 
gravely affected were now in perfect order, so 
that there remained no trace whatever of mor- 



136 Life of the Blessed 

bid affection. On the 5th October, 1841, he 
wrote as follows: " I ask any honest and con- 
scientious doctor if this be a natural termination 
to an illness of this description? Of course, 
people have been cured of it, but we know what 
care and trouble is required, and how frequently 
the interminable convalescence ends only in 
death, as many a doctor has learned from his 
own sad experience. The length of the con- 
valescence in this species of illness is also well 
known, but where was the convalescence here? 
There was nothing to be seen but the sudden 
transition from a serious state of illness to the 
most perfect health." 

From these facts we are bound to draw the 
following conclusion: " This cure must be con- 
sidered as the effect of a supernatural cause, or, 
to speak more clearly, as the effect of a miracle." 

To these conversions and extraordinary cures, 
by means of which Divine Mercy was pleased 
to show forth the power of its servant, we might 
add the chastisement which the justice of God 
inflicted on his unjust persecutors, thus aveng- 
ing his innocence even in this world. The man- 
darin of Kou-Tchen-Kieng, who had arrested 
him, was deprived of his post a short time after- 
wards, and hanged himself in despair. The 
Viceroy of Wu-Chan-Foo, a downright wild 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 137 

beast, who had vainly employed against this 
meek and patient martyr every means suggested 
by his barbarous and ferocious rage, was con- 
demned to exile by the Emperor for his cruelty, 
and the people, thinking the punishment too 
slight, would willingly have torn him to pieces. 
It was thus that Herod endured a. shameful and 
miserable death, devoured by worms, and that 
Pilate, banished into Gaul, ended, it is said, by 
killing himself. 

Are we not right in saying that God Himself 
seemed by these miracles both of mercy and 
justice to sanction the species of worship paid 
after his death to the venerable servant of God, 
John Gabriel Perboyre? It is hardly to be 
wondered at if the Mother-House of the re- 
ligious congregation to which he belonged, and 
whose glory it is to number him among her 
sons, should have wished to obtain possession 
of his precious remains. In 1858 they were ex- 
humed by Mgr. Spelta, Vicar- Apostolic of Hu- 
Peh, identified by Mgr. Delaplace, Vicar- 
Apostolic of Tche-Kiang, and removed from the 
inhospitable soil of China to his dear native 
country. Father Etienne, then Superior of the 
two-fold family of St. Vincent of Paul, an- 
nounces the translation of his relics as follows, 
in a circular dated Paris, 1st January, 1861 : 



138 Life of the Blessed 

"At the very commencement of this year, 
i860, on the 6th of January, God in his good- 
ness was pleased to realize our most cherished 
wish, and most sweet hopes. On that day, the 
anniversary of the birth of our venerable martyr, 
Gabriel Perboyre, we had the happiness of re- 
ceiving into our Mother-House his precious 
body, brought back from China by one of our 
brethren, Mgr. Danicourt, Vicar-Apostolic of 
Kiang-Si. It would be difficult to describe the 
emotion that filled all hearts on becoming pos- 
sessed of so rich a treasure. Kneeling around 
the coffin from which sanctity seemed to radiate, 
we love to pour out our homage before it, while 
from the heavens above our brother smiled 
down in answer to our loving welcome. 
What a joy for us to receive again in our 
midst, crowned with the double aureole of 
apostle and martyr, him, whom we had seen go 
forth from this same Mother-House twenty-five 
years before, to distant lands beyond the sea, 
bearing the good tidings of salvation, and ready 
to undergo a life of toil, privation and suffering 
for the name of Christ, and to seal with his 
blood his faith and his love for souls ! When 
formerly director of the Seminary he had, by 
his teaching and example, shown the youthful 
generation what a true missionary ought to be. 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 139 

Now he had come back amongst us to show 
them how to suffer, and to die for the glory of 
God and the salvation of the brethren. 

4 'The 25th January, a day ever memorable 
for the foundation of the Society, was fixed by 
Mgr. Morlot for the canonical identification of 
the body of our venerable martyr, according to 
the instructions ad hoc sent from Rome. He 
was kind enough to preside himself at the 
touching ceremony. . . When the identity of 
the body had been canonically recognized, it 
was carried into our chapel and placed in a 
vault prepared for its reception. There it will 
remain until by the goodness of God we are 
permitted to place it upon our altars, and allow 
it to share the glory and honors paid to the 
body of St. Vincent." 

This hope thus entertained by the Superior- 
General seems now on the eve of being real- 
ized. Already, before the death of the vener- 
able servant of God, Pope Gregory XVI, on 
hearing of his captivity, and the sufferings he 
was enduring, advised that all the facts likely 
to serve one day in the process of his beatifica- 
tion should be collected, and expressed his in- 
tention, if the martyrdom was consummated, to 
favor with as little delay as possible the intro- 
duction of his cause. The sovereign Pontiff 



140 Life of the Blessed 

was not unmindful of his promise, and two 
years after the death of the servant of God, in 
1843, the first testimonies having been got 
together, he signed the decree introducing the 
cause of beatification. This was the last official 
act of the holy See, and from that moment 
Father Perboyre was entitled to be styled 
Venerable. 

Since then, many causes, such as the long 
distances, the condition of witnesses whose dep- 
ositions it was necessary to take, the loss of 
certain important documents, which though 
afterwards discovered, were mislaid for a time 
and had to be replaced, added to the innumer- 
able formalities which surround these proceed- 
ings, and the wise delay which the Roman 
court observes in such cases, have conspired to 
retard the accomplishment of a wish so dear to 
the hearts of all the children of St. Vincent. A 
recent work in which Father Ferdinand Morani, 
the advocate of the cause, has ably resumed 
both the canonical researches undertaken re- 
specting the martyrdom and the various mira- 
cles worked by the intercession of the servant 
of God, is about to be presented to the sacred 
Congregation of Rites. The proofs therein ad- 
duced by the learned advocate, revised by his 
Eminence the Vice-promotor of the faith, and 



John Gabriel Perboyre. 141 

already published, are in themselves so solid 
and convincing that but little doubt is felt in 
Rome as to the success of the cause. May God 
realize our hopes, and may He see fit to 
strengthen and sustain our steps in the ways of 
virtue by giving us a new model to imitate, and 
another saint to invoke ! 



APPENDIX. 



Half a century was within a few months of 
completion, from the day on which our glorious 
martyr met his triumphant death, when the 
Vicar of Christ declared him worthy of a title 
he had so well merited, the title of Blessed. 

On November 7, 1889, Pope Leo XIII, with 
all the impressive solemnity proper on so great 
an occasion, announced to the world that John 
Gabriel Perboyre's life and sufferings and death 
had been subjected to that long and rigid scru- 
tiny demanded for beatification, and that the 
result was more than a triumph for the humble 
missionary, who, after awful and long continued 
sufferings, had given his life in proof of his 
love, and handed back, to the God who made it 
for Himself, his gentle but heroic soul. 

In the annals of beatification we doubt if there 
is anything as striking as the contrast drawn by 
the head of the Church between the sufferings 
and death of our beloved Martyr and those of 
our blessed Saviour Himself. The pontifical 
Brief of Beatification is a document of over 
twenty-three hundred words, and is an admira- 



144 Appendix. 

ble resume of the Martyr's career from his birth 
to his death. 

We have room only for the following ex- 
tracts : 

"Great is the fame which the sons of St. Vin- 
cent have acquired for themselves by their mis- 
sionary labors in Christian lands; but espe- 
cially have they distinguished themselves by 
their holy industry in propagating the faith of 
Christ among the heathen peoples of China, 
insomuch that the fruit of their labor and the 
memory of their efforts will never die. For 
true it is, that in the performance of duties so 
arduous this Community has given proofs not a 
few, of what zeal for religion, what charity for 
the neighbor, can accomplish. On this account 
God has deigned to choose from their flock 
victims worthy to be offered him, who should 
add to the merit of a host of virtues the trium- 
phal palm of martyrdom. This grace was mer- * 
ited by John Gabriel Perboyre, who, after 
laboring with wonderful zeal for nearly five 
years among the Chinese, being overtaken by 
civil persecution, joyfully for Christ's sake 
poured forth his life with his blood." 

(Then follows a sketch of his life and labors 
up to the time of his arrest.) 

" At length the time drew near when the holy 



Appendix. 145 

priest was to prove the reality and height of his 
virtue by a glorious martyrdom. Suddenly, 
throughout the region in which he was stationed, 
arose a storm of persecution against the pro- 
fessors of the Christian faith, and particularly 
against the zealous shepherds of the flock. To 
John Gabriel the divine Goodness granted a 
singular favor, which went far to assuage the 
bitterness of the persecution to which he was 
subjected. In the cruel torments which he un- 
derwent may be traced a remarkable likeness to 
the sufferings of our Holy Redeemer. Having 
concealed himself in a forest from a band of 
pursuing soldiers, he was betrayed by one of 
his neophytes for thirty pieces of silver. On the 
approach of the armed satellites, another of his 
disciples, like Peter, wished to repel them by 
force ; but the saint, following the example of his 
divine Master, ordered him to lay down his arms, 
and gave himself up to the enemy. The infuriate 
soldiers seized him, as the Jews did Jesus, struck 
him, wounded him with their swords, bound him 
in chains and dragged him, half naked, to the 
city. Being led to the tribunal, he was placed 
on his knees before the judge, with his hands 
tied behind his back, and questioned concern- 
ing his county and religion. As soon as he 
professed himself a Christian, he was over- 



146 Appendix. 

whelmed by the multitude with opprobrium and 
contumely. The inhuman judge ordered him 
to be more closely bound, and delivered him to 
the custody, or rather to the torture, of a certain 
man, who, on account of his ferocity, was called 
'The Tiger.' 

"On the following day he was compelled to 
travel on foot to another city, some distance off. 
One of the soldiers, seeing the holy man weak 
with hunger, covered with wounds and bereft 
of all his strength, offered himself, after the ex- 
ample of the Cyrenean, to support his tottering 
steps. To this man John Gabriel, after his 
Martyrdom, appeared in a vision, and urged 
him to adopt the Christian faith, promising him 
on the part of God a heavenly reward. 

"Being brought before the military prefect, 
after declaring himself a Christian, he, like 
Jesus, answered no other questions. On this 
account he was again cruelly scourged and cast 
into a frightful dungeon. To these bodily tor- 
ments was added an anguish of mind, so keen 
that it almost deprived him of life. Being or- 
dered to trample upon the image of Jesus cruci- 
fied, he, with deep reverence and tears of love, 
embraced this sacred emblem, whereupon the 
brutal executioners, by whom he was sur- 
rounded, snatched from him the crucifix and the 



Appendix. 147 

image of the Virgin, and profaned them most 
atrociously before his very eyes. But what 
afflicted him most keenly was to see some of his 
disciples, impelled by the promises and threats 
of the judges, abjure the religion of Christ 
which he had labored so zealously to impart to 
them. However, nothing could shake his con- 
stancy. Mocked and scourged, exposed to the 
brutality of his enemies, loaded with cruel 
chains that cut into his flesh, whipped and 
scourged until not only his blood flowed like 
water, but even particles of his flesh were torn 
from his body, branded with hot irons, like 
an infamous criminal, he bore all with indomi- 
table fortitude and unruffled sweetness of tem- 
per. 

"At length, after a whole year of such ex- 
quisite torments, being condemned to death, 
with five criminals of the lowest order, he walked 
to the place of execution with a cheerful step and 
joyous countenance, as to a veritable triumph. 
Suspended by the neck upon a cross, he was 
raised above the earth, and consummated the 
sacrifice of himself by a glorious martyrdom on 
the nth of September, 1840, expiring on the 
same day of the week and almost at the very 
hour that Jesus gave up the ghost. So much did 
his death, in all its circumstances, resemble the 



148 Appendix. 

death of his divine Master, that no one can 
doubt he is numbered among those elect souls, 
whom God ' foreknew and predestined to be 
made confortable to the image of his Son.' ' 

When we read, in the foregoing life of our 
blessed Martyr, that his sufferings and death re- 
semble those of Jesus Christ, we may feel like 
making some allowance for the author's en- 
thusiasm — perhaps the comparison strikes us 
even as irreverent. But when the Vicar of our 
Saviour, after examining the testimony which 
the Congregation of Rites had unanimously de- 
clared more than sufficient for beatification, 
takes the pains thus to trace the same similarity, 
the thoughtful reader must be filled with admira- 
tion and feel moved to thank God that, in an 
age of religious indifference, so wondrous a 
specimen of Christian heroism is possible. 

The year 1890 was a memorable one for the 
children of St. Vincent in all parts of the world 
by reason of the Triduums and religious festiv- 
ities with which they endeavored to honor their 
martyred brother, and to invoke his interces- 
sion. From their Mother House in Paris, 
where repose the treasured remains of our 
blessed hero, the key note of triumphal song- 
was sounded, and its symphonies were taken up 
by harmonious voices in a thousand lands, and 



Appendix. 149 

fervent hearts beat warm with exultation as the 
joyful cadence of hymn and prayer went round 
and round the earth. "In omnem terram exivit 
somes eorum." Cardinals, archbishops and 
bishops lent their presence, their eloquence and 
their learning to celebrate the glory and re- 
hearse the deeds of the century's most glorious 
Christian martyr. Wherever was known the 
white cornet of a Sister of Charity or the pres- 
ence of a Lazarist missionary, there was held a 
special celebration and there was invoked with 
fervent piety the martyr's blessed name. 

And the wave of devotion that then swept so 
many hearts has not died away, but is widening 
in influence and gaining in volume as time 
goes on. Nor has the object of this devotion 
shown himself indifferent to the petitions that 
have been addressed to him. 

We give below some extracts from letters that 
have come to us in answer to inquiries as to 
favors received by those who asked them 
through our blessed martyr's intercession. 

At the request of the writers the names, in 
most cases, are not given; but these can be 
produced when asked for by the proper author- 
ities, and the statements here made verified by 
suitable evidence. 

These simple stories are here given to the 



150 Appendix. 

reader for what they really are, the earnest, 
honest expressions of hearts with whom the 
doctrine of the Communion of Saints is a living 
reality and not a vague theory — who know 
and feel that the saints of God can hear our 
prayers and do often obtain what we desire; 
and if they needed evidence to verify this faith 
that is in them they have it in abundance, for 
themselves, at least, in the facts they here ad- 
duce. They have formed the acquaintance of 
this new advocate in the heavenly court, and 
knowing how dearly he loved God, and how 
magnificent the proof he gave of that love, they 
have gone, nothing doubting, to ask the favor 
of his influence before the throne of the God 
he lived and died for. And the sequel shows 
they have not been disappointed. 

Not a single instance here recorded but can 
be substantiated, not merely by one or two wit- 
nesses, but by many; by parties unconcerned 
and by those whose hearts burn with gratitude 
too deep and strong for words, towards our 
holy Martyr, whose beneficiaries they believe 
they are, and believe it with a conviction that 
no power on earth can shake. 

From an orphan asylum in the state of Mich- 
igan comes the following report : 

"About two years ago we received a child 



Appendix. 151 

into our Asylum who was afflicted with an in- 
curable itch; before we discovered it, the con- 
tagion spread among the children. All our care 
and the doctor's remedies failed to check it. 

" The sister in charge of the children, much 
distressed, put away all remedies, hung up a pic- 
ture of Blessed John Gabriel and made a novena 
to obtain a cessation of the trouble through his 
intercession; at the novena's close, the annoy- 
ing disease entirely disappeared and we have 
never had a trace of it since." 

One of the blessed Martyr's beneficiaries in 
Pennsylvania writes as follows: "Some time 
ago our beloved and much lamented Father 
Mandine gave me a relic of our Blessed Mar- 
tyr; the first case where its power was evident 
was in that of a very painful toothache. The 
relic was applied, sleep came to the sufferer, 
the toothache was cured and no pain was felt in 
the tooth for a year after. 

" The second was the case of a young man 
very low with typhoid fever, of whose recov- 
ery the doctors had very little hope. I gave the 
patient my relic and a novena was begun. 
The change was evident at once. The quick 
recovery of the young man surprised every one, 
especially the physician." 

Here is a report that comes from St. Louis: 



152 Appendix. 

"It affords me great pleasure to relate to you 
briefly a wonderful conversion wrought through 
the intercession of Blessed John Gabriel. A 
gentleman of this city had not been to the sacra- 
ments for forty years. He took very ill and 
was sick for two months. His wife and chil- 
dren were Catholics and brought the priest to 
see him. He would not so much as look at the 
priest and gave the latter to understand that his 
return was not desirable. 

"The poor wife was heartbroken. She sent 
a note to me to ask prayers for him, and I sent 
her a relic of Blessed John Gabriel, and told 
her to make a novena in which our little com- 
munity would join. 

"On the fourth day the sick man became so 
much alarmed about his condition that he asked 
his wife to send for a priest so he could make 
his confession, which he did with the greatest 
marks of a true penitent. 

He received the last sacraments before the 
end of the novena and died most happily, to the 
great edification of his numerous friends." 

The Superior of a Maternity Hospital in 
Pennsylvania writes as follows : 

"We recognize the intercession of our 
Blessed Martyr as a very powerful help in our 
maternity cases. Though I can not cite special 



Appendix, 153 

instances, with any details, we never have a 
case where danger threatens without having 
recourse to Blessed Perboyre, using his relic, 
medal and prayers, and ever have cause to con- 
gratulate ourselves for so doing. 

" Two instances I can speak of that show his 
favorable interest in us. 

" A little boy about two and a half years old 
was hopelessly afflicted with something like gan- 
grene sore mouth. I gathered the children 
around his bed, placed the relic and medal of the 
Blessed Martyr in the hands of two of them, 
and with the band of Innocents invoked his aid. 
A surprising change took place at once and in 
a few days the child was well. 

"A young man, dissipated and miserable, 
the besotted victim of all kinds of degrading- 
habits, called at our house. He wanted to re- 
form and asked advice and prayers. I gave 
him a medal and a short account of the 
Martyr's life and sufferings. Some months 
later I received a letter thanking me for what I 
had done. He had gone to his duties, and gave 
every hope of a thorough reform." 

And here is a contribution from the State of 
Virginia : 

"We have two examples of the power of 
Blessed Perboyre with God; one of a young 



154 Appendix. 

man 18 years of age, the other of a young girl 
about the same age. 

" The former while studying for the priest- 
hood at St. Charles College, was suddenly 
stricken with paralysis. He lost the entire use 
of his lower limbs; his hands were weak and 
not of much service to him. The physician 
decided that a cure was impossible. Strangely 
enough the boy never lost hope, but felt that he 
must get well and go back to college. He was 
given a picture of Blessed Perboyre and his 
life. At once he evinced great confidence in 
the Martyr's intercession, and with others, be- 
gan a novena. The use of his feet began to 
return, he continued to improve constantly and 
now walks alone to church, half a mile distant. 
His astonished physician, a Protestant, confess- 
es freely that the cure was effected by a power 
higher than any exercised by his profession. 

"The other case is that of a young girl, 
whose lower brain became diseased, so that 
she lost all power of action. She lay lifeless 
for a month, would not take food unless it was 
forced into her mouth. One could not imagine 
a more pitiable case. A medal of Blessed 
Perboyre was placed around her neck, her 
mother prayed fervently to the martyr, and in 
three days a change took place. She took food, 



Appendix. 155 

began to show interest in things around her, 
and in two weeks was perfectly cured. She 
has a marked devotion to her blessed bene- 
factor, and feels that he has cured her." 

The Carney Hospital of Boston, in charge 
of the Sisters of Charity, is well known not 
only in New England, but throughout the 
United States. We are pleased to be allowed 
to use its name in connection with the follow- 
ing: 

" It affords us great pleasure if any little 
word of ours could add to the glory of our 
Blessed Brother, John Gabriel Perboyre. On 
opening a new wing of our hospital in April, 
1891, we named one of the halls after him; at 
that time there were five non-Catholic patients, 
who, we feared, would die without baptism; 
they gave no reason for us to hope for their 
conversion. We placed them under our 
Blessed Brother's care, entreating him to secure 
heaven for them. Each day special prayers 
in his honor were recited before his picture, 
which hangs in this hall; before the month 
closed these five had the happiness of being re- 
ceived into the fold, at their earnest request. 
In the spring of 1892 we had two cases that 
baffled the skill of the physicians, who declared 
that no human aid could save them. In each 



156 Appendix. 

case we were told by the doctor, fc This patient 
will not be alive when I make my visit to-mor- 
row.' Blessed Perboyre's intercession was 
invoked, and to the surprise of the doctors their 
patients were better, and at present are enjoy- 
ing good health. So great was the impression 
made upon them that they remarked : ' The 
Sisters have prayers that can do more good 
than medical science.' Anxious to show our 
gratitude to our blessed benefactor, we send you 
an order for 100 copies of the book you are pre- 
paring." 

The following remarkable conversion took 
place in one of the best known Catholic board 
ing schools for young ladies in the Eastern 
States : 

"We were celebrating November 7, 1893, 
the feast of Blessed John Gabriel Perboyre, 
whom many of the pupils had chosen as the 
patron of their studies. The High Mass was 
sung by a Son of St. Vincent at the beautiful 
marble altar dedicated to our glorious Martyr. 

"In order to excite the pupils of the school 
to greater devotion, the Directress had, on the 
previous evening, spoken to them of the suffer- 
ings of this faithful servant of God. Among 
our Protestant pupils was a young girl of rare 
intelligence, in her eighteenth year. This dear 



Appendix. 157 

child, whose mother was a former pupil, had 
long occasioned us much anxiety. She had 
been in the academy nearly four years, and still 
despising the proffered grace, she not only 
seemed to find pleasure in manifesting her in- 
difference, but openly declared that her eter- 
nal interest gave her not the slightest concern. 
On the night previous to the feast she appeared 
to witness the martyrdom of Blessed John Ga- 
briel and to hear him tell her that both her fa- 
ther and herself would owe their salvation to 
his intercession. Contrary to her custom, her 
first act on awaking was a prayer in which 
she entreated the Blessed Martyr to be mindful 
of his promise. Notwithstanding this, the fa- 
vored one tells us that, struggling against an 
unaccountably increased aversion for anything 
relating to her soul, she had, with a feeling 
almost of desperation, resigned herself to at- 
tend the solemn service on that memorable 
morning. During the High Mass, as the priest 
recited the Credo, while all knelt at the words 
'Bt Homo Factus Est,' strangely impressed 
and subdued, this stray sheep felt her whole 
frame thrill with reverence as her lips involun- 
tarily repeated: ' Credo ! I believe. Yes, my 
God, I firmly believe.' A prayer book lay 
near; opening it at random, her eyes fell upon 



158 Appendix. 

the ' Profession of Faith,' which she devoutly- 
read. At that moment she became conscious 
that grace had triumphed in her soul and that 
she owed the favor to Blessed Perboyre, hence- 
forth to be her beloved Patron. 

" After Mass she left the chapel with her 
companions, but had scarcely crossed the 
threshold when an irresistible desire impelled 
her to retrace her steps and make known to the 
Reverend Chaplain the wonderful change so 
suddenly wrought in her. Seeing the ardor of 
her disposition, the zealous missionary directed 
the new convert to begin her preparations, but 
in spite of her eagerness and evident sincerity, 
he deemed it prudent to require of her a long 
probation. Submitting humbly to this decision, 
N., with a courage hitherto unknown to her, 
now respectfully informed her father of her in- 
tention to enter the true church. Instead of the 
bitter opposition which all dreaded, this gentle- 
man immediately undertook a long journey to 
assure himself that his idolized child was not 
prompted by caprice or any human influence. 
He arrived at the school on the feast of the 
Immaculate Conception, and laid before N. all 
the sacrifices involved in the step she was about 
to take; then, filled with admiration at her firm- 
ness, he gave his full and free consent. Before 



Appendix. 159 

taking his departure, however, the fond father 
begged one favor of the daughter so dear to his 
heart, viz., that she would promise never to be- 
come a religious, as the very thought of this 
would crush him. ' I can not make this prom- 
ise, my dear father,' was the answer, ' for 
although there is little reason now to think such 
a favor is in store for me, my new-found faith 
teaches me that my future is in the hands of 
God.' How visibly our glorious martyr had 
smoothed away all difficulties ! 

" January 6, the Epiphany, being also the 
birthday of Blessed John Gabriel, was chosen 
as the day of his protege's first communion. 
On the eve of this double feast, after her abju- 
ration, N. took in baptism, with her own name, 
that of Perboyre. 

6i She still perseveres in most edifying fervor, 
perfectly convinced that she is indebted to our 
dear martyr for her happiness. She cherishes 
the hope that, through his intercession, her 
father may, ere long, share her blessed privi- 
lege." 

The following striking instance of our Blessed 
Martyr's power in behalf of the afflicted oc- 
curred in the city of Baltimore. 

" A prominent citizen of Baltimore, returning 
from his office one evening, complained of 



160 Appendix. 

acute pain in the head, saying also to his wife 
that his memory was failing. He continued, 
however, to attend to his business, until the third 
day, when his symptoms became most alarming. 
Not only he could no longer speak intelligently, 
but he was even unable to express, either by 
words or in writing, what he wished to say. 

"The physician was sent for, and being a 
warm friend of the family, he at once informed 
Mrs. N. that the case was of a very serious 
nature. A tumor or abscess had formed on the 
brain, and not showing itself on the exterior of 
the skull, the case was evidently beyond the 
doctor's control; he added: 'No one on earth 
can tell how this may terminate.' In his 
anxiety the attending physician insisted that a 
consultation should be held. The eminent phy- 
sicians who had been called in, likewise de- 
clared the case beyond human skill; that even 
if they could scatter the gathering, blood 
poison would, most likely, be the result. 

" Some of our sisters called to see Mr. N. 
on the fourth day of his illness, and to them 
the case seemed hopeless. Conscious to 
some extent of the sad state which so grieved 
his devoted family, Mr. N. prepared himself 
as best he could for confession and communion. 
Alter a few days the sisters called again, and 



Appendix. 161 

were much pained to learn from his heart- 
broken wife that there was no improvement in 
the sick man's condition. One of them took 
from around her neck a medal of Blessed Per- 
boyre and handing it to Mrs. N. , she said : ' Put 
this medal on Mr. N. and while he wears it let us 
all pray for your husband's recovery. We have 
great confidence in the intercession of this great 
servant of God who suffered martyrdom in the 
present century.' Then Sister smiling added : 
' His reputation is at stake, so we need have no 
doubt that he will prove to us how great is his 
power with Jesus Christ, whose sacred passion 
his death so closely resembled!' 

" Our faith was not disappointed. From the 
moment he put on the medal the patient re- 
covered rapidly and in two weeks from that day 
he and his wife received holy communion 
together in thanksgiving for this favor. 

" We were delighted to see our good friends 
in church again, and with them over and over 
we thanked our glorious martyr for this consol- 
ing proof of his miraculous power. Mr. N. is 
very grateful to the ' Sisters' Saint,' as he 
called Blessed John Gabriel Perboyre during 
his illness. As to his dear medal Mr. N. re- 
fuses to restore it to the owner, having resolved 
never to part with this treasure." 



162 Appendix. 

Here is an extract from a letter from the 
principal of one of the largest parochial schools 
in the West: 

" We have applied to our Blessed Martyr in 
behalf of certain young persons, between the 
age of 13 and 20, who seemed bent on their 
own ruin — intractable, irreligious, etc. We have 
seen seventy or more of these thoroughly re- 
claimed, prepared for First Communion, and, it 
is to be hoped, secured to God through the in- 
tercession and protection of Blessed Perboyre. 

" Many of our sisters have experienced the 
happy effects of his protection in their own pri- 
vate trials in the arduous work of the school 
room. 

" One of our sisters obtained through a no- 
vena made to Blessed Perboyre the conversion 
of her father, who for twenty-three years had 
neglected his religious duties. He continues 
practical and exemplary. Another obtained a 
special spiritual blessing, which she attributes 
wholly to the intercession of our Blessed 
Martyr." 

The Providence Hospital, in the city of 
Washington, conducted by the Sisters of Char- 
ity, is well and favorably known by many of 
the first men of our nation and by visitors to the 
national capital. 



Appendix. 163 

Here is an extract from a letter written at this 
hospital : 

" We are happy to state that several wonder- 
ful cures have occurred in our hospital, which 
we feel we owe entirely to our Blessed Martyr. 

" We will select the two following: A young 
lady entered the hospital on October 26, 1892, 
and left February 8, 1893. This patient fell 
and injured the tibia, which caused periostitis. 
Three operations were performed, the last of 
which was very critical. A hole had to be 
bored one inch into the tibia. Her sufferings 
were intense, the strongest opiates being of no 
avail. The doctor felt that nothing short of 
amputation would cure the lady. The Sister in 
charge of the patient had much faith in and de- 
votion to our Blessed Martyr, and applied his 
relic to the limb, begging the lady to join her 
in asking a cure, to which she readily con- 
sented. 

" Shortly after she began to feel relieved, 
her sufferings gradually disappeared, leaving 
her able to walk as well and as fast as anybody. 
All is attributed to Blessed Perboyre. 

" The other is a case of laparotomy. This 
patient entered the hospital May 20, 1892, in 
a very bad condition. The doctors told her 
that her only chance for life was an operation ; 



164 Appendix. 

for the sake of her family she consented, 
though with very little hope of recovering. 
The first step after the operation was periostitis, 
giving the doctors every reason to fear that 
septicaemia would next develop. The Sister 
applied the blessed relic and in one hour's time 
a most wonderful change took place ; she not 
only quickly received relief, but in a few weeks 
the lady left the hospital perfectly cured, 
through the intercession of Blessed Perboyre." 

The following case is from a religious institu- 
tion in New Orleans : 

"We had a patient suffering from heart trou- 
ble and dropsy. Her physical condition brought 
on depression of spirits and despondency of a 
serious form. The doctor pronounced her case 
hopeless, and said that she could be relieved 
only by death. Her confessor advised her to 
pray to Blessed John Gabriel Perboyre, which 
she did, and was cured." 

The following remarkable cures occurred in 
one of the largest and best known private hos- 
pitals in the Mississippi Valley : 

tfc A young woman suffering from a diseased 
stomach, was so badly off that she could take 
nothing but liquid food, and even this caused 
intense suffering. After treating her for some 
weeks without any improvement, the doctors 



Appendix. 165 

decided that she was incurable. It was then 
suggested that she should make a novena in 
honor of Blessed John Gabriel Perboyre, wear- 
ing his picture at the same time, as we had no 
relic. She gladly consented, and was joined in 
the pious exercise by the ward patients. At the 
end of the novena she was able to take any kind 
of food, suffered no pain, and in a word, was 
cured. She returned to her trade, that of dress- 
making, and two years later, when last seen by 
us, was in excellent health. 

"A poor woman, the mother of a large 
family, was brought to the hospital in a suffer- 
ing and very dangerous condition. The doc- 
tors used every effort to relieve her, but with- 
out success, and as the case was desperate they 
decided to perform an operation, which would 
be her only chance for life, but which might 
also prove fatal. They gave her a few hours 
to rest, and in the meantime a picture of 
Blessed Perboyre was placed on her and prayers 
commenced. After a short time the woman 
was relieved and there was no necessity for the 
operation. She returned to her home, fully re- 
covered, in a few days." 

The Sisters of Charity from St. Simeon's 
school, New Orleans, write as follows: 

' 'We have made novenas to Blessed Per- 



1 66 Appendix. 

boyre, and through his potent intercession have 
received many favors, temporal and spiritual, 
for ourselves and others. Prominent among 
them are the following, which the recipients 
wish made known, that devotion to this great 
servant of God be increased. 

" A lady of New Orleans, very much afflicted, 
came to one of our Sisters for advice and con- 
solation. Her husband had become addicted 
to the use of liquor, and was almost constantly 
intoxicated. In her grief the poor woman 
scarcely knew what to do. Sister advised her 
to procure a picture of Blessed Perboyre, to 
burn a light before it while making a novena. 

Mrs. promised that if her prayer was 

granted, she would always keep a picture of 
Blessed Perboyre in her house, with a light 
burning day and night before it. The novena 
was made, the husband received Holy Com- 
munion on the ninth day, and now leads a sober 
life. The lamp burns constantly before our 
Blessed Martyr, and each night this couple 
kneel and recite a prayer in his honor. They 
wish to do all they can to promote his venera- 
tion. 

"A young lady, also of this city, suffered 
frequently from abscesses in her throat. She 
made a novena to Blessed Perboyre, during the 



Appendix. 167 

course of which the Sisters applied his relic 
several times to her throat. The abscesses dis- 
appeared, and have never troubled her since. 

"A beautiful little girl of four years, child of 
one of the citizens of New Orleans, fell, injur- 
ing her hip so severely that there seemed to be 
no hope of recovery. Her parents endeavored 
to resign themselves to the fact that she would 
always be a cripple. A Sister of Charity, who 
had great devotion to Blessed Perboyre, gave 
the mother of the child some oil which had been 
burning in front of his image. Though a month 
had elapsed, the hip was bruised and the child 
suffered much pain; her mother used the oil for 
a few days and all marks disappeared, and the 
severe pain was alleviated. Still the child could 
not walk, for the limb had shrunk very much, 
and she had to remain in bed with weights at- 
tached to her foot. Six months after the acci- 
dent, during the triduum held at St. Stephen's 
church, in honor of the beatification of John 
Gabriel Perboyre, the little one said: ' Papa, 
if you take me to church, I'll walk.' Her 
father carried her to the church, and after the 
devotions were over, home again. On reaching 
the house she wished to be put down, and when 
this was done she began instantly to walk, and 
so rapidly that her father, frightened, ran to 



i68 Appendix. 

catch her, fearing she would again fall. But 
she was entirely cured, and has remained well 
ever since. The child seems to have received 
spiritual favors also with this material one, for 
she is very pious. Her parents, devout Catho- 
lics, are very grateful, and feel that they owe 
this great favor entirely to our dear Martyr's 
intercession. 

"One of the Sisters, who was very ill, and of 
whom no one entertained any hope, was cured 
by applying the relic of Blessed Perboyre. 
Innumerable spiritual favors, which we are 
not at liberty to mention, have also been ob- 
tained." 

In one of our large Southern hospitals, a Sis- 
ter relates a striking account of the miraculous 
conversion of a most hardened sinner, obtained 
through the intercession of our Blessed Martyr. 
She says: 

" A poor man was brought to us, so sick that 
we thought it necessary to question him con- 
cerning his religion. He seemed to have come 
fully prepared to resist any suggestions on this 
subject and answered very sharply: ' I am not 
a Catholic now, but a Freemason. I was at 
one time foolish enough to believe in such 
things, but have since learned better.' Feeling 
that reasoning would be useless and that only 



Appendix. 169 

the most powerful grace of God could reclaim 
so hardened a soul, I placed him in the special 
keeping of our Blessed Mother, slipping our 
dear miraculous medal under his pillow; this 
he by some means discovered and threw the 
medal across the floor. The following day one 
of our good Fathers visited him. He acted 
very rudely, telling the priest to go away. 
Father returned, a second time, a third and 
fourth time, and finally concluded it was use- 
less to worry him. Feeling that my unworthi- 
ness might be the cause why our Blessed 
Mother seemed not to rescue this poor creature 
from the worst of all deaths, I asked one of our 
dear ancient Sisters, who had always been 
most successful in winning over such desperate 
cases, to say a few words to him, but she met 
with just the same treatment. 

"Almost discouraged by so much obstinacy, 
the thought occurred to me to recommend the 
case to the intercession of Blessed Perboyre. 
Acting on the impulse of the moment, whilst 
arranging his pillow, I slipped a picture and 
medal of this great and zealous confessor under 
it, and left him for the night. On the following 
morning, whilst kneeling before the statue of 
our Blessed Martyr, during the Holy Sacrifice 
of Mass, I begged him most fervently to display 



170 Appendix. 

now, by his powerful intercession in behalf of 
this poor unfortunate man, the great zeal and 
charity which so pressed him whilst on earth. I 
had scarcely commenced to distribute the break- 
fast, when the man sent for me to come quick- 
ly, and as I did so, he said ' Oh, Sister, send 
me a priest; any one will do, only send him.' 
I told him I was almost afraid to do so, he had 
sent the priest away so often, and I asked him 
if he were in earnest? He burst into tears, 
sobbing bitterly, until the arrival of the priest, 
who heard his confession, anointed and gave 
him the last blessing. On seeing me, after all 
was done, he said, 'Oh, Sister! I have just done 
what I vowed I never would do, make my con- 
fession. How good God has been to me?' I 
then showed him the picture and medal of 
Blessed John Gabriel from under his head. He 
kissed them reverently and continued to weep 
and utter fervent ejaculations until conscious- 
ness forsook him a few hours later." 

A Sister also relates an incident which oc- 
curred at N. during the triduum there in honor 
of Blessed John Gabriel. It is of a little 
orphan boy from an asylum, who after vainly 
imploring all who he thought might procure for 
him the happiness of Catholic baptism, entered 
the church where the triduum was going on, 



Appendix. 171 

approached as closely as possible to the altar 
of exposition and from the very fulness of his 
little heart (he was only 8 years old) said: 
" Oh, Blessed Perboyre, get me baptized." Be- 
fore the triduum was ended, contrary to all ex- 
pectations, all obstacles were overcome; and 
more yet, for the one who most opposed it not 
only urged it, but promised that at any sacrifice 
she would always procure this happy child the 
means of attending his religious duties. The 
child was baptized and took the name of his 
powerful intercessor. 

The same Sister tells of a little girl (whose 
parents were non-Catholic) paralyzed in the 
spine, so as to be a perfect cripple. She had to 
be handled and carried as an infant. Wealth 
had spared nothing to effect a restoration, but 
all to no effect, as with age she became more 
helpless. The case being so sad we made a 
novena for her, and she visited the chapel (was 
carried there) during the triduum in honor of 
our Blessed Martyr. She went home with her 
parents a sound child, overjoyed at the posses- 
sion of what she scarcely ever knew before. 
She craved the privilege of being baptized, but 
we thought it more prudent she should not be, 
owing to some special reasons, and feeling as- 
sured that he who had so powerfully aided in 



172 Appendix. 

obtaining her bodily health would, in time, also 
obtain the life of her soul. 

The following incident lacks nothing in the 
way of reliable and weighty evidence, since it is 
attested both by the faculty and students of 
famous Niagara University. 

kt Denis Keyes, after several years of faithful 
service as a lay brother of the Congregation of 
the Mission, was attacked by consumption while 
stationed at the College and Seminary of Our 
Lady of Angels (Niagara University), N. Y. 
The ravages of the disease, besides rendering 
him unfit for active duty, so increased a mental 
weakness to w r hich he had long been subject, 
that he evinced unmistakable signs of insanity. 
His mental malady now took the peculiar form 
of aversion for all things spiritual. Any men- 
tion of Mass, confession, prayers, was sure to 
provoke the poor brother to utter blasphemies, 
so that it was considered better to leave him 
alone in his delusion. In the spring of 1890, 
he was compelled to take to his bed. Even 
then, whenever approached concerning his 
dying condition and the necessity of receiving 
the sacraments, he continued his irreligious 
comments, speaking disrespectfully of God, the 
Blessed Virgin and the sacraments. About 
this time the inmates of Niagara were celebrat- 



Appendix. 173 

ing a solemn triduum in honor of the beatifica- 
tion of Venerable John Gabriel Perboyre. 
Father Hayden, director of the Seminarians, 
recommended to them the spiritual needs of the 
sick brother, requesting them to make a novena 
in honor of Blessed John Gabriel that the sick 
man might obtain the grace, and receive the last 
sacraments, in a sound state of mind. 

"On the day that the novena ended the Rev- 
erend Director was most agreeably surprised, 
upon entering the brother's room, to hear him 
make known his wish to go to confession and 
prepare himself for a happy death. A careful 
examination revealed no traces of his former 
mental condition; he was calm, rational in 
speech and action. Strangest of all, he was 
most prayerfully inclined, asking for the crucifix 
and kissing it with every mark of the true re- 
ligious. The last sacraments were accordingly 
administered to him. He knew most fully, all 
that was going on about him; he realized that 
he was preparing for his dread passage to 
eternity. 

" During the ten days which intervened be- 
tween his reception of the last sacraments and 
his happy death, although he suffered intensely 
at times, no complaint escaped him, only pious 
ejaculations and acts of resignation to the Di- 



174 Appendix. 

vine will. The spirit of his vocation had come 
back to him once more; the humble brother of 
Saint Vincent and of Blessed Perboyre was 
himself again, and so, surrounded by the priests 
and brothers of the institution, he passed from 
his brethren here below to join his brethren 
gathered above around the throne of his Father 
St. Vincent.*' 

The following letters speak for themselves : 
4 'New Orleans, La., January, 1894. 

"The deep gratitude I feel to Blessed John 
Gabriel Perboyre, coupled to my ardent desire 
to assist in propagating a lively devotion to this 
noble martyr, urges me to publish an account of 
a favor wrought in my behalf. 

" From early childhood I was troubled with 
an affection of the ears, which at times caused 
intense and prolonged suffering. In Novem- 
ber, 1891, I had a most severe attack; the 
usual remedies proved ineffectual ; nothing gave 
me relief. My pious mother, witnessing my 
excruciating pain, exhorted me to address my- 
self to Blessed Perboyre, whose triduum we 
were then preparing to celebrate. I placed a 
picture of the martyr on my ear, and besought 
his aid. In a few moments relief came. I 
fell into a calm sleep, and have never since ex- 



Appendix. 175 

perienced the slightest return of the pain, that 
had baffled the skill of some of the ablest phy- 
sicians of the city. 

" I feel I owe this cure to the intercession of 
that great apostle, who closed his ears to the 
noise and tumult of the world that he might the 
better hear the low, sweet voice of the Master 
calling him to distant China — and to martyrdom. 
" Blanche Michell." 

14 Donaldsonville, La., March, 1894. 
" Gratitude for a favor received from God 
through the intercession of His blessed servant 
John Gabriel Perboyre, and a desire to spread 
devotion to this holy Martyr, are our motives 
for the publication of the following: About 
eighteen months ago our only son, a child of 
three years, was stricken with paralysis of the 
limbs. The poor little fellow, hitherto full of 
life and activity, became utterly incapable of 
moving or of helping himself in any way. Doc- 
tors' remedies were applied without effect and 
we were informed that perhaps the limbs might 
strengthen and the child be able to walk again 
as he grew older. Still, the fear that he might 
always remain a cripple far outweighed the 
hope of his recovery. One day, after he had 
been suffering for about three months, our 



176 Appendix. 

good Sisters of Charity sent us a medal of 
Blessed Perboyre, telling us that the holy 
Martyr had lately been beatified, and recom- 
mending us to invoke his aid in behalf of our 
boy. We applied the medal to the poor lifeless 
limbs, while the innocent baby lips repeated 
.after us little invocations. Several days' re- 
peated prayers were finally heard, and, to our 
amazement and delight, our little son escaped 
from the arms which had been holding him so 
carefully, stood on the floor and cried out: 
'O, mamma, mamma, I can walk!' Sure 
enough, the little limbs, a moment before limp 
and lifeless, were again capable of sustaining 
the weight of the little body. From that time 
they continued to strengthen and now our child 
is as full of animation and can walk as well as 
any boy of four. He still wears the medal of 
Blessed Perboyre, and we, his parents, praise 
God for the power bestowed on His Blessed 
Servant. 

" Mr. and Mrs. Felix Le Blanc." 

We have passed beyond the space allotted us 
for this Appendix, yet we close it with regret, 
for we are obliged to omit a large number of 
narratives which would make most interesting 
reading. We have selected only a few ac- 



Appendix. 177 

counts, of the many before us, not from the 
United States only but from various parts of the 
old world. We are grateful to God for the 
privilege afforded us of compiling, however 
awkwardly, this little Appendix* At the feet of 
our blessed Martyr we lay our pen, and beg him 
to accept its feeble effort as an expression of 
earnest love of him, and a sincere desire to imi- 
tate, in some small degree, the virtues that made 
him loved by God and man. 

N. 



IT BHoa 



PUBLISHERS 

AMD 

CATHOLIC BOOKSELLERS 

AND DEALERS IN 

AND MANUFACTURERS OF FINE ARTI- 
FICIAL FLOWERS. 

No. 166 ROYAL STREET, 

NEW ORLBANS, LA. 



^n> 



